Can't I.D. This Wood?

[ReggieT]

Picked up this load late this evening and I admit two things, "I'm rusty on my wood ID & I'm wayyyyy outta shape!"
Anyhow, it was free & so was the lecture on the wood type...the guys swears its a rare strain of hickory!
I think perhaps white oak or white ash...

I didn't see any nuts lying about, the small twigs/limbs were limber, but hard to snap, and it the wood weighed a ton.
Yet, my MS 261c chewed through it a little quicker than most hickory I've encountered.
Maybe I'm underestimating my saw with square chisel & a 16 in bar!!

Here are the best pics I could muster.
What are you guys thoughts?

 

[Knots]

It looks like ash to me, but I don't feel absolutely sure.

 

[TreePointer]

Definitely ash. Likely white ash.

If you want extra confirmation, look for opposite (as opposed to alternate) branching.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Definitely ash. Likely white ash.

If you want extra confirmation, look for opposite (as opposed to alternate) branching.

And the little pinhole on each flat cutside of the wood, I can see it in the pictures when I magnify them.

 

[blades]

dosen't look like ash to me - poplar or soft maple - maybe bass wood

 

[Kevin Weis]

Yes Ash. Possibly Green Ash.

 

[JSeery]

End grain picture is a little blurry, but I would say this is ash (probably green ash).

 

[PA. Woodsman]

dosen't look like ash to me - poplar or soft maple - maybe bass wood

He said "the wood weighed a ton" and Basswood is pretty light, so I'm thinking not?

 

[ReggieT]

Well studs I reckon the verdicts in, just spoke with the guy I got it from and these are his words, "Yeah, she use to drop a bumper crop of hickory nuts every other year fer many years yung feller...them wuz da tastiest dern nuts this side of my scrotum???"!!WTH???

 

[lindnova]

I am no expert, but do you have a butternut tree there? They are more like a white walnut. That would make sense on the nuts (vs. bitternut hickory).

 

[ReggieT]

Lind,
You may have something there. I did look up a hickory tree called a "Nutmeg Hickory" that loves to be covered in lichens it looked very close. Then again I also looked up Butternut also and this looks almost identical...Hmmm....lost on this one.
So far even in lieu of the hickory nut confession...95% say its ash.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

What does it smell like? Hickory smells like manure, Ash smells like a sour wine.

 

[ReggieT]

Smells kinda sour

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Smells kinda sour

Then I would lean towards it being Ash. And if it has the pinhole in the ends in the middle like I saw in the first picture.

 

[ReggieT]

Here are some pics of this mystery wood split today.
Plenty of knots & stringy as HADES

 

[JSeery]

I withdraw my ash guess. Difficulty splitting and colorful nuts description from the owner indicate this is indeed hickory.

Here are some pics of this mystery wood split today.
Plenty of knots & stringy as HADES
View attachment 241697
View attachment 241698

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Well studs I reckon the verdicts in, just spoke with the guy I got it from and these are his words, "Yeah, she use to drop a bumper crop of hickory nuts every other year fer many years yung feller...them wuz da tastiest dern nuts this side of my scrotum???"!!WTH???

And hickory is not out of the question from those photos. One of the less common ones. Clearly not shagbark.

 

[Eureka]

That’s hickory

 

[ReggieT]

Many of my tree service buds and Arborists impersonator now swear it either Elm or Black Gum!

 

[Eureka]

Pretty good chance it’s gum too, but I thought the owner told you it dropped tons of nuts. Hickory is hard and heavy. Splinters can be used for toothpicks.
Gum trees drop “balls” but are stringy wood. Both species should have more color in the heartwood than your pictures though. I’ll go ahead and say what you have is firewood.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Many of my tree service buds and Arborists impersonator now swear it either Elm or Black Gum!

Sour Gum (Black Gum) not likely. Bark is not right for those. Sour (Black) Gum has large square deeply incised plates. Possibly Sweet Gum though.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

The splits look like hickory to me. Pignut maybe.

 

[ReggieT]

Pretty good chance it’s gum too, but I thought the owner told you it dropped tons of nuts. Hickory is hard and heavy. Splinters can be used for toothpicks.
Gum trees drop “balls” but are stringy wood. Both species should have more color in the heartwood than your pictures though. I’ll go ahead and say what you have is firewood.

I think he's also confused about his "nuts!"