Wood I.D. Please (experts only!)

[Summertime]

Can anyone i.d. this wood for me? it was in a southern area. A very unique tree.

 

[Tree farmer]

That tree actually scares me! If I had to work with that all the time I think I would be in a different line of work.

 

[BrianW]

It looks like a Banyan tree to me. Does it have numerous roots that extend to the ground, - forming new trunks? Thats how it appears in the photo. Banyan's are a tropical tree... you said south.... how south????

Brian

 

[fossil]

Dunno. Looks like it took a lightning strike but refused to die. Rick

 

[BrotherBart]

I could tell ya, but I'm not an expert... :lol:

 

[Malatesta]

Looks Like Munster or OZ.

 

[GVA]

Chop it down, down, down, and down and give us some pics of the splits..........

 

[myzamboni]

That tree actually scares me! If I had to work with that all the time I think I would be in a different line of work.

I agree. They have them on Oahu that look just like this. (note: i am not an expert)

 

[fossil]

Wait 'til late summer, walk past it, make a nasty crack about rotten apples and see what it does. Rick

 

[fyrwoodguy]

Chop it down, down, down, and down and give us some pics of the splits..........

seems like a good idea to me

 

[LLigetfa]

I couldn't tell ya cuz I’m not an expert. Looks like too tangled a mess to make it into firewood. I'd cut the ugly thing down and build a big bonfire. Maybe you could find a few witches too and have a party.

 

[madrone]

Jehoshaphat! Run! Drop the camera and run!

Oh man, he hasn't posted for awhile, do you think he made it?

 

[hensonconst1]

I am guessing there is a swamp near by (not an expert)

 

[jadm]

If it looks like a tree, grows like a tree and burns like tree then I feel safe identifying it as a tree. In my book, trees come in various sizes ranging from small to gigantic. Yours fits into the 'big' tree classification.

I am an expert. Just not a tree expert. ;-)

 

[Summertime]

It looks like a Banyan tree to me. Does it have numerous roots that extend to the ground, - forming new trunks? Thats how it appears in the photo. Banyan's are a tropical tree... you said south.... how south????

Brian

I believe you may be correct, I was very south in Costa Rica and instantly thought of the Hearth when I saw this tree, The vines grow down and reroot themselves.
I am surprised that you guys guessed the tree so soon!!

Below is another enormous tree I saw down there.

 

[burntime]

I see dead BTU"S!

 

[raybonz]

It's the talking tree from the Wizard of Oz in my non-expert opinion...

 

[Superlite]

Had one next to my house in FL, Banyan is correct. They can actually move across the ground, albeit slowly. they move on the roots that drop that also give it that monstrous look.

 

[BrianW]

Woooohoooo. I got it right. I was just at the Honolulu zoo last week and took a picture of a banyan myself.

 

[pulldownclaw]

The only reason those trees get that big is cuz their 'aint no woodburners down there! :cheese:

 

[Summertime]

The only reason those trees get that big is cuz their 'aint no woodburners down there! :cheese:

Aaah but there are woodburners!! like the guy I saw piling splits in his woodshed, They have a wood fired grill in thier restaurant that I had fresh fish cooked on.

 

[pulldownclaw]

I knew I'd be corrected quickly! %-P

Nothing better than a fish sandwich and a Red Stripe while soakin' up that sun......sounds mighty good today.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Looks like the tree from the movie "The legend of Sleepy Hollow"! That's freakin' me out!!


"STAY AWAY FROM IT....FAR AWAY...."

 

[jpl1nh]

Another name for banyon tree is strangler fig. By either name it's in the ficus family, most likely ficus nitida. They get the name strangler fig because they often start growing as an epiphyte, meaning they are growing off the ground, up in the forest canopy. The seeds germinate in the duff that collects in the crotches of trees. The young plant quickly will send down air roots which contract when they touch the ground firmly anchoring the young plant in place and creating a vital water and nutrient supply from the soil. As the tree matures, it can send down so many air roots which become so massive that they end up literally strangling the original host tree leaving the ficus in its place often with the appearance of being suspended on lots of stilts. Like any wood, ficus burns but its comparable to a softwood. Like its close relative the rubber tree, its sap has a very high latex component.

 

[Der Fuirmeister]

..... They can actually move across the ground, albeit slowly.....

'think maybe you've had too much birch beer.....