Wood id please-- I'm thinking black birch

[dafattkidd]

Hey,

This was a great scrounge. It was two houses away and cut to size. I think the whole thing took me 15 minutes to load my truck and unload it into my processing area.

I'm not sure what it is exactly. I didn't see any of the leaves. It smelled like birch, but I'm not sure that means anything. What do you think? Either way I'm not burning it till 2013. Thanks for your help.

 

[JustWood]

Sick-a-more

 

[CountryBoy19]

Sick-a-more

I don't think it is...

Sycamore usually has a darker, outer bark that peels off down to a VERY thin, smooth white bark.

That bark (even in the lighter colored spots) appears to be all intact and thicker than the smooth white bark of sycamore. I think it's just the coloration of the bark that makes it look like sycamore. Maybe the darker spots were on the north side of the tree and that is a little moss/mold on there?

 

[albertj03]

Does it smell like wintergreen when you split it? Black birch has that very distinct smell that is hard to miss.

 

[dafattkidd]

I'll split it and sniff it again when I get home, but I'm pretty sure when I split it last time it smelled very similar to white birch.

 

[stejus]

Black birch bark is very smooth as a young tree. When it gets larger, the smooth bark starts to crack and become rough. I have lots of this stuff around and I call it black gold!

http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/bele2448.jpg

http://www.free-photos.biz/images/nature/natural_patterns/black_birch_bark.jpg

 

[gzecc]

Looks like an diseased ornamental tree.

 

[Wood Duck]

It is not Black Birch. I am thinking maybe an ornamnetal like Japanese Zelkovia??

 

[dafattkidd]

Cool. I'll see how it burns next year. It split pretty easy. I'll ask my neighbor if he knows next time I see him. Diseased Ornamental sounds like the name of a band.

 

[gpcollen1]

Looks like the magnolia that split on me a few years back - that I cut up and burned. The ornamental call seems about right...

 

[JBinKC]

My guess is tree of heaven.

 

[Battenkiller]

I'm sitting on almost 5 cord of seasoned black birch right now, and that stuff looks nothing like my wood. Black birch bark can look very much like cherry bark in mature trees. It is also extremely heavy, even after drying. In the semi-dark of my basement, the cherry and BB can look pretty much alike at times, but if it's cherry the heft feels like pine compared to the black birch.

 

[NH_Wood]

Another vote against black birch - not too far from it, but the bark isn't right. Although I'm pretty sure what it isn't, I'm not sure what it is! Cheers!

 

[weatherguy]

Looks like petrified wood