Would you burn.... uh... um... "haunted wood"? Help with ID as well?

[CountryBoy19]

Ok, maybe not haunted, but it just sort of gave me the creeps...

The place I've been cutting wood has been great so far. Lots of Hedge and black/honey locust. I planned on today being my last trip there (pretty much cleaned the good stuff out). Anyways, the owner talked to me and asked if I could take the trees that were growing the graveyard. We're not talking about trees that are growing between graves etc., these trees are literally right on top of the graves, I'm sure the roots are sucking up lots of nutrients from the decomposed grave sites. I had planned to just stay out of there. But to please the landowner, I took down 2 trees that I felt comfortable dealing with. I thought they were black walnut, but they were solid white all the way through, EXCEPT for a small 1/4-1" seam of solid, charcoal black right up the middle. I'm not talking dark brown, this was black, and it was just like charcoal, even slightly iridescent and powdery when hit with the saw.

WTH is this? I've never seen such a thing. Something just gave me the creeps thinking about taking the wood from there and using it, but then when I got into it the black charcoal seam really gave me the creeps.

So, not knowing what this wood is, and the possibility of it being haunted, would you burn it?

 

[smokinj]

Yes I would burn it! Someone needs to clean it up.

 

[Stump_Branch]

How else do you get to Heaven?

In the smoke going up my chimney

Just consider the stove as pergatory

 

[CountryBoy19]

How else do you get to Heaven?

In the smoke going up my chimney

Just consider the stove as pergatory

Oh man, that's horrible...


BTW, normally I probably would burn this, but I don't really need it. I have 10+ cords of oak/maple/ash, 3 cords of hedge, and I'm now over 10 cords of locust. I don't really need any graveyard wood that is likely low BTU's.

Jay could you maybe make a guess to the wood ID? I'm pretty good at ID, but I'm drawing a blank on this one. Wood is white all the way through (except the charcoal like stuff in the very center). Bark is thick, dark, dark brown, and you can see where the bark actually stained the wood brown a little when the chain went through. The exterior of the bark is a really blocky look, almost like Black Chery, except it's thick blocks rather than scales... the wood is very, wet, about 5 minutes after cutting you could see shiny moisture on the cut. Spits moderately easy, slightly stringy but not bad.

ETA, this is persimmon bark, and that is what it looks like, but everything I'm reading says persimmon is a dark wood. What gives?

 

[Stump_Branch]

Side note...only kidding

Is the wood in a black cherry tree and very tan/brownish color? i think i might have some but the tree didnt have any fruit etc. was a compond leaf arrangment.

Persimmion should have a fruit as well, deer love them.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Side note...only kidding

Is the wood in a black cherry tree and very tan/brownish color? i think i might have some but the tree didnt have any fruit etc. was a compond leaf arrangment.

Persimmion should have a fruit as well, deer love them.

I know you were kidding...

Yes, cherry is a reddish, brown color (heartwood) and the sapwood is white and "thick", relatively speaking. I've normally seen the sapwood between 1/2-2" thick on Black cherry.

I didn't notice any persimmon fruit around, but most of them dropped their fruit over a month ago around here and they don't stay around long because wildlife love them.

 

[firefighterjake]

Wood is wood . . . besides . . . after college I lived in a graveyard . . . true story . . . for some reason my grandparents had a camp (cabin to the rest of you folks not from Maine) moved and when they moved it for some very odd reason they put it under a bunch of mature sugar maples that was the boundary for a small family graveyard. To be fair I do not believe the camp was on any gravestones (it looks like the family planted the trees out farther and they moved on before filling up the cemetery.)

In looking back it was kind of strange since I had a clothesline set up that ran right through the graveyard and I set up a swing for my step daughter that swung back and forth in the graveyard (far away from the stones though in case she fell) . . .

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Burnit or donate it. You honor the deceased by cleaning up their final resting place.

Matt

 

[Danno77]

ashes to ashes... I'd burn it.

 

[thewoodlands]

[quote author="CountryBoy19" date="1289606706"]Ok, maybe not haunted, but it just sort of gave me the creeps...

Also within this cemetery was an imposingly tall pine tree, which stood until 1998, when it was destroyed to dissuade thrill-seekers. Even though the tree was perfectly healthy, it was cut down the day before Halloween. This tree grew directly through a headstone, splitting it in half. Local lore held that the tree was used to hang witches before the land was allotted as a memorial ground. The trees in this graveyard were considered landmarks of evil, which would help lead the way to the mystical steps to hell located nearby.

Don't burn it or they shall show up every halloween.


zap

 

[Lumber-Jack]

I'm with those guys, just burn it.
However, when you clean out your woodstove it might be appropriate to put the ashes in an urn rather then jump dumping them in the usual spot.
Just saying.