Cherry Laurel?

[Kenster]

I did some major trimming on some overgrown cherry laurel that we use for shade/privacy screen in our court yard. Quite a bit of the stuff I cut down was about six inch diameter. That wood is very hard, dense, and heavy relative to its size.

Have any of you ever used it in your stoves? It looks like it would make some really good overnighters, once it's had a year or two out in the stacks. I don't plan to split it, just leave in those big rounds. There's not a lot of it. Maybe ten or twelve pieces cut to about 18 inches.

Thanks!

 

[Jon1270]

It doesn't grow in my area, but I looked it up for fun. Wikipedia says that in the US, 'cherry laurel' refers to Prunus caroliniana. I found this entry that says the specific gravity of prunus caroliniana is 0.8688, which is way, way up there -- significantly denser than hickory, oak or any of the other domestic hardwoods most of us are familiar with. My guess is that it will take a long time to dry and be difficult to start in the stove, but once started it will probably burn for aeons.

I'm curious what the wood looks like.