Black Birch or Cherry?

[saewoody]

This was a standing dead tree at my uncle’s that cam down in the last storm. About 12-14” in diameter. It tested at 13% m/c! I originally thought it to be a some kind of birch, but then I thought it could be cherry. Most of the bark was already gone. And I didn’t get any real distinct smell. Thoughts? Thanks


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[AbrK]

Black birch forsure


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[Fuut Master]

Black birch will have a pretty strong wintergreen scent. Black cherry will not. Give it the sniff test.

 

[saewoody]

Black birch will have a pretty strong wintergreen scent. Black cherry will not. Give it the sniff test.

I gave that a try, but I wasn’t t sure how dependable that would be on a standing dead tree. I gave it a sniff, but didn’t actually scratch the bark.


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[saewoody]

Here are some close-ups of the grain.

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[Jay106n]

Black birch. Def not black cherry. Bark is way off.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Agree on the black birch assessment

 

[StihlKicking]

I agree that it’s not black cherry, I’m unfamiliar with black birch.


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[JSeery]

+1 black birch. love that stuff.

 

[Fuut Master]

I Dont know guys. I have seen some young cherry trees that look very similar to his examples. The split pieces look a lot like what is in my stove right now(black cherry). If you google young black cherry tree bark the images that come up look very similar. I would think even a standing dead black birch would have a faint smell. I am by no means an expert. Just my opinion.

 

[TreePointer]

Black cherry (Prunus serotina) shows horizontal lenticels on smooth bark in very young growth, but not in wood that big. If black cherry, that wood would have flaky charcoal colored bark and show a more defined darker heartwood.

Although the bark pictured above looks a lot like bird cherry (Prunus avium) which keeps its smooth bark with pronounced horizontical lenticels in mature trees, the wood doesn't seem to match bird cherry, which is pretty much indistinguishable from black cherry wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

I've seen cherry this size with smooth bark like this . . . but that said . . . black cherry's wood inside tends to be a bit darker/redder.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

I can see why you ask. Just going by the photo, I'd say black birch.

 

[gzecc]

I also guess BBirch, but only the smell test will tell for sure. BBirch smells like root beer. You'll never forget it.

 

[gerry100]

doesn't look at all like Cherry wood

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I’ll be the outlier here and say that the bark looks more like a cherry than black birch. My area is loaded with black birch and your bark looks more like cherry-like than a birch. I’ll send you some pics of my dry black birch tomorrow for comparison.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Actually on second look, that does look like black birch. Plus you’re in CT like me, so you’re probably right about that being birch.

 

[splions]

I also guess BBirch, but only the smell test will tell for sure. BBirch smells like root beer. You'll never forget it.

Agreed...I cut and burn black birch all the time...not sure about this one...use smell test to confirm.

 

[lost in the woods]

prunus avium. the lenticels give it away. birch has lenticels too but not that pronounced

 

[Lakeside]

prunus avium

I agree see link

 

[saewoody]

Well, the smell test was inconclusive, and the few bark pieces I had looked an awful lot like the cherry tree that I have in my yard (to be clear, this wood did not come from my yard). Also, any bark pieces I had left went into the stove today. At these temperatures, I’ve probably got about two days left of this wood. It certainly burns pretty well. Since it was standing dead, it was ready to be burned. I split it right from the back of the Suburban and straight into the garage, and then to the stove. Easiest seasoning I ever had! There are two more of the same trees where this one came from that are not nearly as dead. I will have to check them out, and maybe see if I can still find some leaves. Thanks for all the replies.


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[PA. Woodsman]

That looks a lot like Pin Cherry that we have here in PA., smooth grain inside. Black Birch grain is usually redder and wavier.

 

[JSeery]

Well, the smell test was inconclusive, and the few bark pieces I had looked an awful lot like the cherry tree that I have in my yard (to be clear, this wood did not come from my yard). Also, any bark pieces I had left went into the stove today. At these temperatures, I’ve probably got about two days left of this wood. It certainly burns pretty well. Since it was standing dead, it was ready to be burned. I split it right from the back of the Suburban and straight into the garage, and then to the stove. Easiest seasoning I ever had! There are two more of the same trees where this one came from that are not nearly as dead. I will have to check them out, and maybe see if I can still find some leaves. Thanks for all the replies.


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Given that this was standing dead, I'll have to retract my previous Birch call. I've never seen black birch standing dead that was any good for burning. Seems to start rotting before it seasons to any meaningful degree. Cherry on the other hand, is one of my go to standing dead species. Love to find a perfect stack of stove-ready cherry standing straight up in the woods. No splitting (other than one to test moisture) or stacking, just cut to length and directly into the stove. Did the smoke have a nice cherry smell? I was burning a lot of cherry yesterday and was loving the aroma as I raked leaves outside.

 

[saewoody]

Given that this was standing dead, I'll have to retract my previous Birch call. I've never seen black birch standing dead that was any good for burning. Seems to start rotting before it seasons to any meaningful degree. Cherry on the other hand, is one of my go to standing dead species. Love to find a perfect stack of stove-ready cherry standing straight up in the woods. No splitting (other than one to test moisture) or stacking, just cut to length and directly into the stove. Did the smoke have a nice cherry smell? I was burning a lot of cherry yesterday and was loving the aroma as I raked leaves outside.

Not sure about the smell. Most of this wood was getting burned at night.


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[goofa]

+1 pin cherry

That looks a lot like Pin Cherry that we have here in PA., smooth grain inside. Black Birch grain is usually redder and wavier.