Prunus Avium or Betula Lenta?

[Toasty-Yote]

I am kinda stumped. I have a plant app that is usually very accurate. App said prunus avium based on the leaves which I would think is more determinative than the bark. When I take pics of the bark, the same app says betula lenta. The smell is strong and kinda odd. I wouldn't describe it as minty right off the bat. It smells like some kind of artificial flavor. Definitely not the same as the smell of the black cherry I harvested earlier this year. The trees grow very straight up and down and seem to die fairly young when they are 30-35 feet tall. I counted about 25 rings? Wood is quite heavy and springy even though it was standing dead. When I went to hand split, it was very difficult even when the pieces had straight grain because the bark acted like duct tape and prevented the split from traveling down the log. Once the bark finally busted open, it was easy to split.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Bark is a horrible way to figure out tree species. It changes greatly over the life of a tree. if you have bud pics, that’s the ticket! But back to your 2 species.

So, let’s start off trying to figure out the tree by asking where you found it. Was it growing in the woods or an ornamental? If growing in the woods, the odds of it being the Cherry, which is native to Europe decreases. It’s a young tree, so it’s probably not from an old homestead. If it’s an ornamental, we’l, you could find just about anything in a yard.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Do you have any leaf pics?

 

[Toasty-Yote]

Bark is a horrible way to figure out tree species. It changes greatly over the life of a tree. if you have bud pics, that’s the ticket! But back to your 2 species.

So, let’s start off trying to figure out the tree by asking where you found it. Was it growing in the woods or an ornamental? If growing in the woods, the odds of it being the Cherry, which is native to Europe decreases. It’s a young tree, so it’s probably not from an old homestead. If it’s an ornamental, we’l, you could find just about anything in a yard.

Went back for leaf pics!These trees were found in the woods near a development. This little stand of trees just doesn't seem to be doing very well, which from a firewood perspective, is fine by me. They just kind of break off at ground level while leaving some really good solid wood above a punky stump. I have been carrying pieces about a quarter mile back to my house. Oh, and I chewed on some twigs. It wasn't horrible but there is no way you could mistake it for candy.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Not black birch. Not with those size lenticels.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Look up black cherry sapwood. My original thought was you have a stand of cherry that was out competed. But I don't see any heartwood, and I'd expect some by the time it's hit that many years. I'd have expected the bark to start changing too. Leave some until spring and try to catch the flowers. Black cherry sap smells horrible.

Black birch smells like wintergreen.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

look at the surrounding area for older cherries.

 

[Toasty-Yote]

It is a very biodiverse woods so there are definitely some black cherry trees in the vicinity. Thing is I bucked and split a black cherry earlier this year and it had a nice natural cherry smell that filled my garage. This wood smells more like cherry coke or one of those scented markers from my 80s childhood.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Must be a cherry coke tree!

If you have other cherry trees in the area, stab them with a knife and twist. then sniff the blade. It doesn’t smell good in my mind. See if that matches the smell.

 

[Toasty-Yote]

Must be a cherry coke tree!

If you have other cherry trees in the area, stab them with a knife and twist. then sniff the blade. It doesn’t smell good in my mind. See if that matches the smell.

Yeah, it definitely has a very different smell than black cherry and it is much harder to split. Today I had a piece with the bark off that was still very hard to split. The black cherry that I got into was one of the very easiest woods I have ever split.