Tree ID?

[1750]

We were out for a walk yesterday and spied this. Half of the bark is smooth (like a beech) and the other is corky like an oak. About 30 feet up it makes up its mind and becomes what I think is an American Beech.

(I'm not taking this down -- it looks really healthy, AND it's not on my property -- but I was just curious if any of the tree savants knew what was going on here.) Thanks!

 

[bsruther]

Looks to me like ash eaten up with EAB.

 

[1750]

I can see why you'd think that, but it's not.

Here, look at the upper half of it. It slowly loses the ash-looking bark and becomes a straight-up beech tree.
(I'm not sure why this one is rotated -- photos here are a mystery to me!)

 

[Wood Duck]

I always look at the overall tree, and in this case that means the tree is a Beech with some odd bark at the bottom. That makes a lot more sense than a half Beech, half Ash. You can find lots of oddities on trees, although most of them aren't this odd, and you should just overlook them and judge the ID by the majority of the tree.

 

[1750]

Yes, I agree. I just thought it was interesting and thought there might be others here who might think so, as well.

Thanks.

 

[firefighterjake]

Maybe his dad was an ash and his momma was a beech . . .

 

[gzecc]

Its a beash tree!

 

[Pellet_Pete]

Of the tens of thousands of beech trees I see in a year, I have seen 1 or 2 with weird corky bark somewhat like this tree, except they've always been small understory individuals. A very interesting find! Good eye too!

 

[Dix]

Maybe his dad was an ash and his momma was a beech . . .

Would you get 80% from the Momma, in this instance, Jake??

 

[Rock Crusher]

Looks like a Sycamore to me, and you don't want to burn any unless you have to. Reportedly low btu and ashy.

 

[nrford]

Beech for sure.

 

[firefighterjake]

Would you get 80% from the Momma, in this instance, Jake??

In fact, yes . . . Ash Dad was an ash-%$# . . . shortly after conceiving this tree he ended up leaving Momma Beech for a younger Weeping Willow Tree who had all the moves when the wind would whip her branches around in an alluring way. This resulting off-spring of course is a Son of a Beech . . . and an Ash.

 

[1750]

Beech for sure.

Yes, for sure. Have you seen others with this mixed bark pattern? I am around a lot of beech trees and haven't noticed it before.

 

[nrford]

Yes, for sure. Have you seen others with this mixed bark pattern? I am around a lot of beech trees and haven't noticed it before.

Yes

 

[1750]

Did you ever wonder why the bark pattern in beech is so smooth compared to seemingly all of the other large trees in the North American forest?

I did, and this is what I found:

“Deciduous trees [that evolved] in the northern forests have developed adaptations in their bark to guard against frost cracking. One of these adaptations is rough bark texture in the form of scales, ridges, or plates … American beech is a member of the Fagaceae – a family of trees that evolved in the tropics [where] trees must contend with epiphytes – plants that grow on trees … An adaptation to thwart an epiphyte’s ability to find a ‘roothold’ is smooth bark. Although beech grows into Quebec, it retains its tropical adaptation of smooth bark, compensating it with light coloration to reflect winter sunlight.”