A Nice Present from the FIL

[Jacktheknife]

Father-in-law came through today with a small load worth of downed mulberry. Happy days are here!

 

[Jacktheknife]

 

[JOHN BOY]

Wow and a box of apples to boot ! great score !

 

[Jacktheknife]

And about a dozen peaches and a quart of honey, but those are all from the MIL.

 

[JOHN BOY]

Man you suck ...fresh honey

 

[Jacktheknife]

Man you suck ...fresh honey

Yep, they keep bees.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Nice benefits!

 

[Jon1270]

I don't think any of that is mulberry, but I'd still be happy to have someone bring it over.

 

[Jacktheknife]

I don't think any of that is mulberry, but I'd still be happy to have someone bring it over.

Pretty sure it is, he dropped it over a year ago but the bark and smell were both right. Didn't have the signature piss yellow color, but I could certainly see the hawkeye gold
Starting to come out.

 

[Jon1270]

FWIW, neither bark nor color are remotely like the mulberry that's common in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The yellow color of mulberry isn't subtle and doesn't gradually emerge; it's there from the get-go, and very dramatic and obvious -- practically like a school bus on a fresh cut. Cut heartwood surfaces turn a dark, chocolate brown as they oxidize. Doesn't have much of a smell either.

 

[Jacktheknife]

FWIW, neither bark nor color are remotely like the mulberry that's common in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The yellow color of mulberry isn't subtle and doesn't gradually emerge; it's there from the get-go, and very dramatic and obvious -- practically like a school bus on a fresh cut. Cut heartwood surfaces turn a dark, chocolate brown as they oxidize. Doesn't have much of a smell either.

I think the advanced age is the reason for the absense of intense color. All the mulberry I've cut has had a strong smell.

 

[Jon1270]

We're definitely not talking about the same species. There may be more than one sort of mulberry, though, with differences more pronounced than I would have guessed.

 

[Jacktheknife]

We're definitely not talking about the same species. There may be more than one sort of mulberry, though, with differences more pronounced than I would have guessed.

I know there are at least three different species.

 

[Jon1270]

Lessee, according to a big USDA document I refer to regularly, it looks like there are four: white mulberry (Morus alba), red mulberry (Morus rubra), Texas mulberry (Morus microphylla) and black mulberry (Morus nigra).

Googling around, only the red and white are likely to be found in Iowa. Those are the same two that are most likely found here in Pittsburgh, though we're close enough to the Ohio border that we might also see black mulberry. Neither of us is likely to run into Texas mulberry, which is pretty obviously different anyhow.

 

[Jacktheknife]

Yeah, they say two but we do have three. Had the black mulberry in our yard when I was a kid. I have the white in my yard now and my brother and parents both have reds.

 

[The Beagler]

Jon1270 is correct. That isn't mulberry. The bark on wood pieces to the far left is definitely not from mulberry. When I first looked at it, I thought it may be some elm & silver maple. However, can't really tell. Still, should burn nice. If you can, take a pic of a fresh split piece. Might help to identify what you have.

 

[Jon1270]

FWIW, here's what I know as mulberry. The ugly on the left is from a tree that was down several years, but not split until sometime this past winter. On the right is a fresh split from a tree that was cut and bucked last summer. The yellow interior color is there in the live tree and lasts pretty much indefinitely; I've seen it in freshly split pieces of wood that had been sitting so long that all the sapwood had completely rotted off, leaving a perfect bole of heartwood. Exposed surfaces age to a dark chocolate brown in a matter of months.