what did I scrounge?

[nola mike]

Picked up a pick-up load of this today? There was plenty more, but I told him not to hold it for me since I need to c/s/s this stuff before I get more. Some type of Birch? Super wet and stringy. Big pieces were tough, Littles split easily.

 

[Eureka]

Looks like cherry to me

 

[jackatc1]

I would say Black Birch.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The way to tell the difference is to poke it with a knife. Black birch will smell like wintergreen, cherry will smell horrible.

I'll say cherry as I'm not sure bb grows that far south.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I see a lot of black birch around here. I say black birch. Excellent!

 

[CincyBurner]

Agree with EatenByLimestone . . .

The way to tell the difference is to poke it with a knife. Black birch will smell like wintergreen,

 

[Jags]

My vote is a birch variety. If it was cherry you would be able to smell it from the cab of your truck.

 

[nola mike]

Doesn't smell like anything.

 

[Prof]

Top 2 pics look like black birch, bottom one, I'm not so sure. I agree, smell may tell the tale. If you can't smell it with the knife method, hit it briefly with the saw. I can't imagine confusing cherry and birch, even with a shallow cut. They both burn about the same in my experience, so no worries either way--be sure to spit it though, birch that isn't spit doesn't really dry out.

 

[Eureka]

Whoa yeah I wasn’t seeing the top two pictures. Definitely looks like a birch with the smooth peeling bark. Third pic does look like black cherry but it’s just the trunk wood which ends up scaly on mature trees in both species. I think they’re pretty close in terms of burning quality, good find!

 

[weatherguy]

Looks like black birch which it s a high btu wood, much better than cherry.

 

[Kevin Weis]

Richmond, Virginia I would think has very little or no Black Birch native to that area. Too far south. River Birch maybe. Therefore I still vote for Back Cherry. Kevin

 

[FLINT]

I'm going to say Black Cherry also.

There is definitely no black birch in Richmond. I used to live about an hour west of richmond and am very familiar with the trees of that area and black birch does not grow down there. The only birch down there is river birch, but river birch has much more exfoliating bark.

We have black birch up here in the mountains though. and yellow birch also.

EDIT

oh wait, you are in richmond county - not city - so you are way over at the coast - even further away from where black birch grows.

also, after thinking about it. When I lived in the central va, I don't think I ever saw a large native black cherry tree. For some reason they don't seem to grow full size down there. The small limbs get covered with these growths and then seem to just die, or permanently stay small. Up here in the mountains, black cherries get to be big trees. Some huge ones in WV.

not sure what that tree is. maybe something that was planted. it does look like some kind of cherry though. .
.

 

[nrford]

Birch of some sort.

 

[FLINT]

maybe it is river birch

 

[Kevin Weis]

River Birch has a way different bark pattern actually. Different brown's that peel off in patches, Typically planted in these parts as ornamentals but is also a native floodplain tree in southern Maryland.

 

[nola mike]

There is definitely no black birch in Richmond. I used to live about an hour west of richmond and am very familiar with the trees of that area and black birch does not grow down there. The only birch down there is river birch, but river birch has much more exfoliating bark.

We have black birch up here in the mountains though. and yellow birch also.

EDIT

oh wait, you are in richmond county - not city - so you are way over at the coast - even further away from where black birch grows. . .
.

No, this is Richmond City. Actually picked it up in Henrico, suburban front yard, so don't know if it was planted or native. Good size tree though. The smaller branches look birch-y. I'll take a pic of one of them tomorrow