Mimosa Questions

[Cluttermagnet]

I'm looking for shared experiences from other forum members regarding Mimosa. How did you do with it? Do you bother with it? Seems to me like it's reasonably good for a softwood.

Edit: Lee says it's a hardwood if it's deciduous. It is deciduous. So it's more of a soft, fast- growing hardwood.

I'm taking down a few small trees for a friend. They are Mimosa- positive ID. Some of these were standing deadwood, other parts were live and green. It is very straight grained like Locust and easy to split when dry. I haven't tried splitting any green rounds yet, but I'll bet they split just as easy. My moisture meter indicates around 13-15 percent for the dry stuff, greater than 35 for the green. I burned a little of the deadwood last night, and was pleasantly surprised with it. I'd been advised that it's a soft wood and very fast burning, also fast seasoning. What I saw behaved like a fairly dense wood. It took a while to burn and it coaled very nicely like my Red Oak. Probably didn't last near as long, of course.

BTW I'm aware that it is another Asian invader- considered a very invasive species. It suckers like crazy and drops big seed pods just like Locust. Must be at least distantly related to Locust. I saw very divided opinions about Mimosa on the net. Some think it is a great, fast- growing ornamental with lovely smelling flowers. Others think of it as another Darth Vader of the tree world, akin to Kudzu. This much I know- the tiny leaves and seed pods can congeal to block off rain gutter downspouts like rubber stoppers. They are very effective at this. You don't want Mimosas overhanging your roof. ;-)

 

[Redox]

I thought a Mimosa was something you drank on Sunday morning when you are out of Bloody Mary mix! :coolsmirk:

Most of the Mimosa I have seen is too scrawny to be worth the trouble. I don't think I've ever seen one larger than about 4" diameter, but I guess it's possible. Drop some off and I'll give you an opinion!

Chris

 

[JustWood]

Never heard of mimosa but if it has leaves it's NOT a softwood.

 

[Catskill]

I could sure take down a few myself right about now.

 

[jghall]

Here is some good Mimosa info

(broken link removed to http://www.invasive.org/eastern/eppc/mimosa.html)

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Here is some good Mimosa info

(broken link removed to http://www.invasive.org/eastern/eppc/mimosa.html)

Thanks!

Has anyone else actually burned it?

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Never heard of mimosa but if it has leaves it's NOT a softwood.

Good point, Lee. Yep, it's deciduous. Link above says it's established from LA to VA. I know it's actually established a little further north than that. Anyway, it is a soft, very fast growing wood that is inclined to split easily in storms, I hear. Sort of like Bradford Pears, I guess. The stuff I cut has very thick growth rings. Center turns darker brown than sapwood. It burns like a hardwood- sorta. Seems like it's worth processing and seasoning for firewood. Oak it ain't. of course.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I thought a Mimosa was something you drank on Sunday morning when you are out of Bloody Mary mix! :coolsmirk:

Most of the Mimosa I have seen is too scrawny to be worth the trouble. I don't think I've ever seen one larger than about 4" diameter, but I guess it's possible. Drop some off and I'll give you an opinion!

Chris

Heh! I have some here that must be near 20 years old. The base trunk was well over a foot diameter. They transition to a bunch of big branches a few feet above ground. Many of the rounds I got were around 3-8 in dia. Early results burning deadwood suggest it's worth splitting and seasoning the stuff. Oh, and another one I cut had twin trunks and was quite tall before branching- like 15ft or so. The bigger trunk I cut was about 10 in dia. Dropped a lot of crap on my friend's roof, constantly plugging up all 4 downspouts on his gutters. He's glad it's gone.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I'm burning some more Mimosa tonight- well seasoned, standing deadwood splits. I still like this stuff. Catches very well, and burns fairly hot. It coals pretty well, and it does behave more like Oak than Pine, it seems. Much more long lasting than Pine. Locust it's not, Oak it's not, but it does seem to be worth burning.

Anyone else try using this wood?

 

[JBinKC]

Thanks for your posts and appreciate the information especially on species with little information. I never had the opportunity to burn it but the invasive tree is around me. Its good to know what to expect if I should happen to score some.

What was the odor like when burned and did it leave lots of ash?

 

[Cluttermagnet]

What was the odor like when burned and did it leave lots of ash?

I haven't had the chance to identify a specific smell yet. I'm mixing woods in the firebox lately. Will post further comments as I gain experience with this wood type. I noticed no unusual smells. Just today, I sawed up a bunch of longer Mimosa logs into rounds for splitting, and also brought some more of the deadwood parts up to the house to burn soon.

I hear that Locust ash stays together as it cools. You can poke it with a stick later and the whole thing collapses. (I have not personally seen Locust do that, just yet). All I can tell you at this point is that my Mimosa splits seem to be putting out a decent amount of BTU's and they coal real nice. I'd say no more or less ash than any other wood types.

 

[savageactor7]

Based on your experience I'd burn Mimosa....sure why not. I bet the scroungers could get a lot of it from the counties tree dumps and recycling centers. we don't have anything like it around here ...that I'm aware of anyway. Good report Cluttermagnet.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I burned more Mimosa tonight. It does seem to be long lasting, somewhat like Oak. Well seasoned splits from standing deadwood burst into flame when placed on a good coal bed. It burns slightly more vigorously than Oak IMO. After a while, it goes to coals like Oak. Nothing particularly offensive or out of the ordinary about it. It has a slightly 'different' smell, but I'd be hard pressed to describe it. In all, I am liking this Mimosa wood a lot. A good thing, since I also have about 1/8 cord green, cut into rounds and ready for splitting.

 

[pulldownclaw]

That stuff is like a weed tree down here, spreads like crazy. They do have pretty blooms in Spring, but are ugly in winter IMO. They are a pain in the butt to get rid of, even small 1 or 2 foot saplings have very deep roots that are difficult to pull out of the ground.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Yep, there are several websites (at least) devoted to techniques for getting rid of Mimosa and other invasive species. It seems like it is pretty much like a tree version of Kudzu- just very invasive and difficult to eradicate. BTW it has been planted by well- meaning folks not only for its beautiful blossoms, but because it will thrive in bad locations where other trees can't survive. It's used to slow down erosion on these bad pieces of land. It's a pretty tough tree.

It can be spread in loads of fill dirt that get moved all around. It drops seed pods like crazy, and they remain viable for many, many years.