Another wood ID

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Conkl

Member
Nov 11, 2013
8
Central Virginia
Central Virginia, standing dead. Think it may be some type of ash due to the larvae trails. I have a lot of dead ash on property, but the bark is different, and wood is stringy on this tree.

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Looks like some oak I just split. Leaves would help id easier. Is it heavy?
 
Ash you can see the ash borer larvee lines in the third pic.
 
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I also think it is Ash. I am thinking it is different type of Ash compared to most of what's on my property. After searching the web I found that there are numerous types of Ash and they are all attacked by the EAB. I will have to do some more research to figure out what species of Ash it might be. More curious then important to solve this. It will burn.
Looks like some oak I just split. Leaves would help id easier. Is it heavy?
Have not seen a leaf on any of my Ash in a long time unfortunately.
 
I have seen borer tracks on our dead elms and cottonwood, not necessarily caused by ash borer. There are all kinds of borer insects, elm bark beetle comes to mind.
I think it may be ash but I agree that just because there are insect lines under the bark
does not mean it is ash . The American elm standing dead here also has insect lines under
the bark as does some Oak
 
Curiosity prompted me to go take a closer look at some of our dead ash here. Took a photo of what our ash bark typically looks like (ash1), but there were a couple of ash trees that have bark *similar* to what Conkle posted. The very young ash trees that sprout here have bark seen on the right in ash2 photo and left in ash photo3. Very possible ash. The stringy nature is not what I have experienced with any ash we've split but the wood looks right.

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Here is another tree on my property that has the same type of bark that I posted in my original post. Tree (was) 85ft tall and 24 inches at the butt. Not sure if it is a different species of ash or if the bark on larger mature trees changes. One of the Tree identification apps said possible white ash, but was not definitive.

[Hearth.com] Another wood  ID
 
Here is another tree on my property that has the same type of bark that I posted in my original post. Tree (was) 85ft tall and 24 inches at the butt. Not sure if it is a different species of ash or if the bark on larger mature trees changes. One of the Tree identification apps said possible white ash, but was not definitive.

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That looks similar to persimmon, persimmon would have a dark heartwood though. Probably ash though🤷‍♀️. Maybe have a state forester come out and help you identify what you have on our property just to satisfy curiosity?

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But . . .
ash will have opposite branching habit and persimmon and elm not.
 
Here is another tree on my property that has the same type of bark that I posted in my original post. Tree (was) 85ft tall and 24 inches at the butt. Not sure if it is a different species of ash or if the bark on larger mature trees changes. One of the Tree identification apps said possible white ash, but was not definitive.

View attachment 300379
That blocky bark pattern is associated a lot with Sour Gum.
 
. . . and black gum will have alternate branching habit too.

OP - What is branching habit ? Is it opposite (twigs and branches opposite attachment to one another) ?
 
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Not sure on the opposite branching, will look to see if I have a similar tree that has branches still attached. These trees are standing dead so smaller branches have fallen.
 
Sorry for the delay, was out in the woods all day. Here are some pics of a tree with similar bark and its branches also a picture of a butt end of the original tree.

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ash will have opposite branching habit and persimmon and elm not.
One of first criteria should be branching habit: Opposite or Alternate.
Bark is often a poor diagnostic for spp ID. There is a continuum of variability. The OP's examples make the point.
. . . its ash
 
Good point on the opposite branching. Dogwood does that, and the bark looks similar, too. Plus, it can be stringy, as mentioned. It’s the Virginia state tree, also. LOL
 
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The state tree of Virginia from The American President

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Bark looks like persimmon but persimmon is dense straight grain not stringy.a look alike with that grain I'd say black gum. Elm the growth rings look wavy, so yes sir my guess black gum. Oh and dogwood has a pinkish hue to it when split, here in NC anyway with white flowers in spring. Very similar bark but tends to have a slight bit of flake to it like a black cherry. So yes my guess would be black gum.