Varieties of cherry

[buggyspapa]

Can't get a good picture at the moment, but got a load of wood from a neighbor over the weekend and one tree he claimed was cherry, but it doesn't look like typical cherry. I was going through my tree id book and think it could either be black cherry or a type of birch I'm not familiar with. Bark on the twigs says birch, on the trunk is sort of a birch/cherry cross - like torn up cherry bark that is gray rather than deep purple. Wood is white on the outer rings, very blonde on the inner. A smell of roasted pecan, I think. (Never trust a smoker's nose.) Nutty, anyway. Made me hungry. But lighter than typical sour/sweet cherry. Why he'd cut down a healthy black cherry I can't figure. Wood is very hard and very dense, on par with oak. Any suggestions? I'll get some pix soon.

 

[Woody Stover]

Possibly some type of ornamental Cherry? Bark on those will be lighter in color, not dark and scaly like Black. There's one across the street from us, has fairly large cherries, not the little ones like Black.

 

[bogydave]

Some of the cherry fruit trees have bark similar to birch.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Maybe it is a maraschino cherry?

 

[buggyspapa]

It's not Dave's. Dennis, that's just too funny!

The other "Cherry" thread seems to point to black cherry, which I've not seen before. Generally like the pic Dave put up.

Thanks.

 

[Wood Duck]

What type of cherry is the typical cherry in Scarborough Maine? Black Cherry looks different from most other types of cherry. Domestic/edible cherry that you see in orchards and yards looks similar to many of the wild cherries such as bird cherry, fire cherry, etc. Black Cherry is a bit of an oddball in the group. I think Bird Cherry or Fire Cherry would be more common in Maine than Black Cherry. Black Cherry is very common in PA and NY state and south from here.

 

[TreePointer]

Wood is white on the outer rings, very blonde on the inner.

I was waiting for you to post some pics, but I'll jump in...

If you mean that the heartwood is "very blonde," then it's no cherry I've ever seen. At that point, I'd say birch.

Black cherry and bird cherry have a pink heartwood when green wood is freshly cut. It will then turn an orange color after exposure to the air after a few days. Finally the heartwood will turn a dark, almost black color when fully seasoned.

 

[raybonz]

Some of the cherry fruit trees have bark similar to birch.
View attachment 99841

I get that here Dave and it turns rough as the tree gets larger and older at least I believe this to be the case..

Ray