Ok. I have another one.

[Nosetotail]

The tree guy said this was some kind of oak. The leaves are kinda soft with just barely noticeable teeth.

 

[AmbDrvr253]

Ummmmmm, never seen oak leaves look like that. But I am in PA and not FL.

 

[woodhog73]

I have a lot of red oak and white oak trees. Lots and lots. I have never seen oak bark, wood, or leaves look like the ones in your pictures.

Does not look like oak at all. Not even close.

I have no idea what it is . Looks softer to me than the hardwoods most folks like

 

[Nosetotail]

Well that is why I'm wondering. I need to know if this goes in my fireplace woodrack or my chiminea woodrack. The leaves seem too thin or flimsey to be oak leaves, but I am still discovering new species if oak around here.

The wood has a bit stronger sweet smell and a bit more acidic, almost lemony.

 

[baseroom]

Florida is full of Live Oak! Leaves are different than any other oaks. They grow curvy not tall like northern oaks.

 

[Nosetotail]

This is not Live Oak. These leaves are soft. Live Oak leaves are rigid and concave on the bottom. This serves to add to the rigidity of the leaves.

I found a piece that had some flowers...

I think they open up into small fluffy white bloom.

Also a few of the leaves on the flowering piece had much more pronounced teeth.

 

[HisTreeNut]

You may want to try Arbor Day site. I tried but did not have enough information to answer all the questions.

http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/

 

[baseroom]

Makes sense Iwas more saying that the oaks in Florida look very different than our oaks up here. I'll be interested in what it is,

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Beware of possible poison ivy vine, which is visible in your pic

 

[Nosetotail]

Doh


Hopefully Virginia Creeper. It has taken over down here. 90% of would be poison ivy is the Creeper with 5 leaves, but almost mimicking ivy.

 

[StihlKicking]

That is definitely not an oak, no oak flowers in the way pictured above. Bark, wood and leaves are also all wrong for oak. You most likely have a non native ornamental on your hands. Most likely it's in the holly family, but being in FL it could really be any thing.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Doh


Hopefully Virginia Creeper. It has taken over down here. 90% of would be poison ivy is the Creeper with 5 leaves, but almost mimicking ivy.

Well that's good. I find up here it's hard to tell difference between the vine of pi and that of other ivies. Leaves of the plant make it a lot easier to id

 

[Nosetotail]

That is definitely not an oak, no oak flowers in the way pictured above. Bark, wood and leaves are also all wrong for oak. You most likely have a non native ornamental on your hands. Most likely it's in the holly family, but being in FL it could really be any thing.

Agreed. I ran across several photos if Chestnut leaves that are close, only my leaves have only 7 to 10 teeth on each side. The chestnuts have more. I also need to check all the varieties of cherry. They are similar also.

 

[Nosetotail]

Carolina Cherry Laurel!!

 

[Oldman47]

@Nosetotail the leaves are not smooth like the cherry laurel leaf nor like the shingle oak that I first thought of.

 

[Nosetotail]

Do you mean smooth on the surface or on the sides. Some of the leaves that had not started to dry were somewhat glossy. Also, The flowers are identical to Cherry Laurel. They open up to those pointy little petals.

 

[Oldman47]

Look at the edges. Your leaves are showing a bit of a point here and there along each edge while the shingle oak and cherry laurel are both smooth edged.

 

[Nosetotail]

From the Prunus caroliniana Wiki: The leaves are dark green, alternate, shiny, leathery, elliptic to oblanceolate, 5–12 cm (2-4.8 inches) long, usually with an entire (smooth) margin, but occasionally serrulate (having subtle serrations), and with cuneate bases. Reproductively mature trees have entire margins, whereas immature ones often have subtle serrations.

Also, on other websites, the presence of two spots indicating glands are present on the underside of the leaves near the stem. I found a couple of leaves that had these spots, but most were two far gone to tell. With that said, it turns out I have the identical tree in my neighbors back yard. The tree also has multiple leaves with smooth margins, but a few with distinct serrations. The leaf pattern is identical to my leaf pattern. All the leaves on this tree have the characteristic spots associated with the glands of Carolina Cherry Laurel.

Here is another citation from the site Eattheweeds:

The Cherry Laurel leaf is quite different. It’s teeth are sporadic, especially on older trees or older leaves can have no teeth at all. Younger leaves can have many teeth but they are not consistent or well-organized. Also the back of the Cherry Laurel leaf does not have any hair along the stem. Instead it will have two gray-green dots near the base. They can be faint but each leaf will have those dots, which are really glands.

This pretty much describes what I have to a T. I have several smooth leaves with a few serrated. While I had a hard time identifying the glands on the damaged leaves I have, I did see some and the tree in the back yard has them as well.

I am convinced enough to be cautious with burning this. It will be in my chiminea, and only after the wood has had some time to dry out little. I burned a single green piece tonight and it reeked.

 

[HisTreeNut]

I am convinced enough to be cautious with burning this. It will be in my chiminea, and only after the wood has had some time to dry out little. I burned a single green piece tonight and it reeked.

Once it "seasons" and the moisture content gets around 20%, it shouldn't be as bad. Many woods reek when burned "green"...

 

[Nosetotail]

Agreed. I do like the smell of green oak, but given what I know about Cherry Laurel, the smell was noxious.

For what it's worth, I found an oak with similar serrations. You will never guess what it is called. I ran across a couple of landscaped specimens today.



Sawtooth Oak:

 

[Longstreet]

I cannot tell you exactly what kind, but the flowers definitively looks like a laurel. My parents have a ton of them just up the coast from you in the Low Country. Never seen one anywhere near that large before. They are shrubs where I am from.

 

[StihlKicking]

Agreed. I do like the smell of green oak, but given what I know about Cherry Laurel, the smell was noxious.

For what it's worth, I found an oak with similar serrations. You will never guess what it is called. I ran across a couple of landscaped specimens today.



Sawtooth Oak:

Hey chief what you got there might be a water oak but I can say with 100% certainty that those leaves don't belong to a sawtooth oak. [emoji1][emoji1][emoji1]

 

[XJcacher]

might be American holly.

 

[Nosetotail]

⬆ It is Cherry Laurel. Holly has much stiffer leaves and sharp teeth. These leaves are soft. The flowers don't really have petals either.



HeHe. Scored a free curbside pick up load of green Sawtooth Oak today. I've scored more good wood in the past month than I had scored all year.

 

[Rebelduckman]

Hey chief what you got there might be a water oak but I can say with 100% certainty that those leaves don't belong to a sawtooth oak. [emoji1][emoji1][emoji1]

X2. It ain't water oak either. Got plenty of them on my place