# Please help me identify this tree



## retoid (Mar 23, 2008)

I was walking in the woods the other day looking for deadfall and came across this long straight tree. There was so much brush and other foliage around it I could not see any leaves from this tree.

It is possible to identify the tree type by the bark?











Anybody know what it might be?


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## lumberjack333 (Mar 23, 2008)

Wow stumped me, unique! Kinda looks like a giant alder (thats impossible though) also a bit a resemblance to yellow birch but I honestly have no clue, gettin my book out...


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## M.D. Vaden (Mar 23, 2008)

Various cherry / prunus have those trunk markings - but maybe not quite so long.

Did you cut it down, or is it horizontal?

I've seen trunks a couple of times in odd positions.

Anyhow, that's one guess.


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## tree_beard (Mar 23, 2008)

obviously im not in the US and cant say anything with authority about your local trees, but..




lumberjack333 said:


> Kinda looks like a giant alder (thats impossible though)



alders can get allot bigger than that.... though ive not seen an alder with trunk markings like that



looks to me like a cherry of some sort, we get alot of 'wild cherry' in woods around here that have very similar bark and form (tall and lanky) when surrounded by other trees.

cut that bad-boy up, if its cherry it should be quite distinctive


my 2pence


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## lawmart (Mar 23, 2008)

cut the end to get the positive id but my best guess is cherry family.
lawmart


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## masterarbor (Mar 23, 2008)

i thought cherry too, but the trunk gets rough on a cherry, but the upper leaders look very much like that. also, young cherry trees will have not developed the rough bark yet. but you're a long way from me, so you might have trees we don't. i guess i'm not too sure...


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## Dadatwins (Mar 23, 2008)

I would guess cherry, from the bark. Quick way to check is to take a chunk out with an axe or hatchet. Cherry wood has a very distinct smell.


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## kennertree (Mar 23, 2008)

Dadatwins said:


> I would guess cherry, from the bark. Quick way to check is to take a chunk out with an axe or hatchet. Cherry wood has a very distinct smell.



I like the smell it makes when chipping it.


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## JeffL (Mar 23, 2008)

kennertree said:


> I like the smell it makes when chipping it.



Same!

I'm going to guess cherry as well.


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## retoid (Mar 23, 2008)

Nope didnt cut it down. It seems like it was recently blown down from our seasonal winter winds. Had to have been very recent since nothing is growing on it and there arent any leaves on it.

I am heading out to cut a thin round. I will post up a picture in a bit.


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## retoid (Mar 23, 2008)

Just cut a small piece and it smells kind of sweet and does not smell like the other birch tree's that grow everywhere here.
It is kind of odd to find this tree out here in the woods. I've walked around the woods observing tree's alot and this is the first one I have seen like it.


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## OLD CHIPMONK (Mar 23, 2008)

Looks like some kind of Cherry ?


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## retoid (Mar 23, 2008)

hmm, since there is no foliage present how can I better identify this tree?


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## retoid (Mar 23, 2008)

After looking at several pictures of cherry tree bark it definitely looks like cherry. But wow I have never seen a cherry tree so big!
Is that normal?
Or maybe a black birch?

What are some good uses for this tree?


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## buzz sawyer (Mar 23, 2008)

Without foliage, it would be difficult - are there any similar trees nearby? You could wait till the leaves come out.

Looks like a sour cherry to me - prunnis avium. Just cut and split some last Fall. The bark was about 1/4" thick and really bound the log together - made it very tough splitting till I slit around the bark with the saw. Also looks similar to water birch - Betula occidentalis. Cherry would have the sweeter smell, but not as pronounced as black cherry. Still makes good firewood.


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## retoid (Mar 23, 2008)

buzz sawyer said:


> Without foliage, it would be difficult - are there any similar trees nearby? You could wait till the leaves come out.
> 
> Looks like a sour cherry to me - prunnis avium. Just cut and split some last Fall. The bark was about 1/4" thick and really bound the log together - made it very tough splitting till I slit around the bark with the saw. Also looks similar to water birch - Betula occidentalis. Cherry would have the sweeter smell, but not as pronounced as black cherry. Still makes good firewood.



Well, it was ripped from its roots from the wind. I doubt it will produce leaves. From the look of the bark and outer layer of the wood, I would guess it fell last year.

I am very curious about it though as there are no other tree's like it, not even close.
It also seems that most cherry tree's do not grow so straight and long making me guess its beech related.


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## buzz sawyer (Mar 23, 2008)

retoid said:


> It also seems that most cherry tree's do not grow so straight and long making me guess its beech related.



Yeah, I noticed how straight it was. Made me think twice about cherry but that could be influenced by how thickly wooded the area was as it grew. Does the bark come off like thick, heavy cardboard? In the first cut photo, the wood looks fairly whitish, but the second is more reddish, like cherry.


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## buzz sawyer (Mar 23, 2008)

TreeCo said:


> My guess is that it is a sargent cherry that has escaped cultivation.
> 
> http://www.shuttermoments.ca/articles/sakura/cherryguide.htm
> 
> ...



Sounds like a winner, TreeCo!


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## retoid (Mar 24, 2008)

Hmm definitely a good description but still hard to say for sure.

Today I am going to go cut another piece off from the base of the tree instead of from a trunk.

I ripped some of the bark off of the smaller piece I cut yesterday and most of it came off fairly thin. About 1 mm thick. I am not very knowledgeable about tree's but it seemed like there is an outer layer of stronger skin like bark and beneath that is another layer of softer thicker bark about 1/8" thick.

I will have more pics of the larger cut later on today.

Thank you all for helping me identify this tree  I am learning a lot from searching around the internet and finding very helpful uses of some of these tree's.


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## Mark Currie (Mar 24, 2008)

hmm.. I know around here, I've spotted a few big mountain ash trees (showy mountain ash - sorbus decora). Big for a mountain ash is like 6 or 7 inch DBH or so. They're rare, but they do exist.

http://www.treecanada.ca/trees/photo_info.php?photo_id=319&lang=en

That tree looks bigger than that though, and the range for the showy mountain ash doesn't extend even close to that in the west. Not sure what you have out there for mountain ash. There's Sorbus sitchensis (Sitka Mountain Ash), but I can't find any good pictures of them. No idea how big they can get. Probably not that big though.

Just figured I'd throw another option out there.

Mark


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## hill (Mar 24, 2008)

*I've seen some big ones*

Definitely looks like the cherry trees we have on our farm and we recently had 2 fall from wind that are in the 18" range. There are many others like them still standing.....good wood!!


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## ray benson (Mar 24, 2008)

Looks like a type of cherry. Possibly bitter cherry which grows in your area.
http://images.google.com/imgres?img...prev=/images?q=bitter+cherry+bark&gbv=2&hl=en


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## buzz sawyer (Mar 24, 2008)

Hmmmm...Maybe we're all just barking up the wrong tree?

Sorry, couldn't resist.


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## jpvjr (Mar 24, 2008)

retoid said:


> I was walking in the woods the other day looking for deadfall and came across this long straight tree. There was so much brush and other foliage around it I could not see any leaves from this tree.
> 
> It is possible to identify the tree type by the bark?
> 
> ...



Wild cherry is my guess. Black cherry has rough bark with the longitudinal markings.


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## retoid (Mar 24, 2008)

larger cuts

NW Red Cedar on the left.









I think it is some sort of cherry as well.


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## buzz sawyer (Mar 24, 2008)

retoid said:


> larger cuts
> 
> 
> I think it is some sort of cherry as well.





I agree. I will try to get some pics of whats left of the sour cherry I took down - been down about a year so it should be in similar condition. That bark in the right photo looks almost identical to what I have.


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## extraspecialman (Mar 24, 2008)

thats a breed of tame cherry.Yall probly call it something else out west,but here we call it Pin Cherry.Do the birch trees out there have a wintergreen smell? Wild cherry here can get over 3 ft in diameter.Makes good wood,smells good when ya burn it.Not the best coaling wood,but seasoned it burns hot.


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## retoid (Mar 25, 2008)

Well I am not sure how much different the birch smells from yours or if it is wintergreen smelling. I have only been exposed to Birch tree's in Norway and here in NW Washington. They smell alright, bot alot of smell to them though. Nothing like this cherry or cedar.

By the way, I found a cedar that looks to have been downed for several years that the outer edge was starting to rot a bit. I cut into it and damn! I could smell seasoned cedar from a mile away it seemed. So I cut several thin cuts for salmon planks. I can't believe how potent the smell is


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## utilityman (Mar 25, 2008)

In New York State we call this a pin cherry. (prunus pensylvanica) I have turned some nice things on the lathe from this wood. It finishes up nicely.


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## J.Walker (Mar 26, 2008)

*ID This Tree*

How's about Sumac,
no one has guessed that yet.


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## farmer (Mar 26, 2008)

Sumac came too my mind too. I think it is too big for sumac after seeing the photo of the tree with a 5 gallon bucket.


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## DFD34 (Mar 29, 2008)

*Id*

I would say cherry....


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