Ironworker
Addicted to ArboristSite
Heavy, stringy and hard to split.
ID Thinking Locust
- Thread starter Ironworker
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Definitely not Black Locust. Doesn't look at all like it, BL is also an easy splitting wood.. Honey locust I'm not familiar with.
Definitely not Black Locust. Doesn't look at all like it, BL is also an easy splitting wood.. Honey locust I'm not familiar with.
shorty2000us
ArboristSite Member
I'm interested to know also, this one got me confused. I don't think either types of locust, bark & wood all wrong, heartwood looks like walnut but walnut is the easiest wood in the world to split IMO.
zogger
Tree Freak
Wood interior looks like hickory, bark is a little off from the shaggies here, but I'd still guess that.
Ironworker
Addicted to ArboristSite
It was actually very wet.
zogger
Tree Freak
Well, if it is hickory you could smell it, instant ID. If it doesn't have that bacony smoky smell, it's something else. That bark though, doesn't look like shagbark. So, I dunno. The wood looks like it, but not the bark, it is too even not shaggy and rough.
Most definitely Gumwood.
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Cottonwood or sassafras?
Almost thought elm but I agree - gumwood. Leaves would tell for sure. You ought to be able to find some of the seeds on the ground near the tree.
I can't help you on the ID of the wood pictured above. But I do know for a fact that below is a picture of my high dollar wood trailer full of shag bark hickory split freshly today. Zogger is spot on with the distinct smell that comes from splitting hickory. Also I split about a half pickup load to give to a few of the people at work that smoke meat. Seems like most people don't have access to hickory and are really appreciative when I bring some extra to work for them.
+1 sweetgum
Sure is.
Stuff can be almost impossible to split by hand. Good firewood dries out pretty fast once you get it split.
Smells kind of like licorice/fish
Splits a lot like sourwood.....it dont. Ok so here is some random info. Sourwood was used by moonshiners here in wnc because it smokes very little burns hot and coals for a long time.
treeslayer2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
maybe sweet gum, although ours is smoother barked and normally has little to no heart wood........i have learned thru this sight that our wood is a little different looking than most.
moondoggie what is sour wood? black gum/tupelo?
moondoggie what is sour wood? black gum/tupelo?
Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC.
Sourwood
Ericaceae -- Heath family
Ronald P. Overton
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) grows in the upland forests of the southeastern United States. Also known as sorrel-tree or lily-of-the-valley-tree, its flowers are an important source of honey in some areas but it is of little value as a timber species. Sourwood sprouts often interfere with the establishment of more desirable species in second-growth and cutover areas. This mid-summer flowering tree is an attractive ornamental.
Habitat
Native Range
Sourwood is found from southwest Pennsylvania to southern Ohio, and southern Indiana, south to southeastern Louisiana and the coastal region of Mississippi, Alabama, and northwest Florida; west to western Kentucky and Tennessee, and to the Delta in Mississippi; and east to the Atlantic coast from southern Virginia to central North Carolina, and to the edge of the Coastal Plain in South Carolina and Georgia. The main range lies between latitude 30° and 40° N. and longitude 75° and 92° W. Sourwood reaches its largest size on the western slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.
-The native range of sourwood.
Climate
Annual precipitation within the range of sourwood varies from 1020 mm (40 in) in the North to 2030 mm (80 in) in the central Appalachians. Warm season precipitation ranges from 530 mm (21 in) in the North to 910 mm. (36 in) on the gulf coast and in the Appalachians, and annual snowfall varies from none along the gulf coast to 152 cm (60 in) in the Appalachians. The length of the growing season fluctuates from 150 days in the mountains of southern Pennsylvania to 300 days in northern Florida. Temperature extremes vary from -29° C (-20° F) to 42° C (107° F) within the range of sourwood.
Soils and Topography
In the central Appalachians sourwood is most abundant on subxeric open slopes and ridges occupied by chestnut oak(Quercus prinus), white oak (Q. alba),scarlet oak (Q. coccinea), and Virginia pine(Pinus virginiana). It appears less frequently on more mesic sites such as coves and sheltered slopes (17). Throughout this area sourwood is found up to 1520 m (5,000 ft) but rarely to 1710 m (5,600 ft) (13).
Sourwood grows throughout the Piedmont uplands. It is also found along Piedmont streams on well-drained lowland areas not subject to ordinary flooding (10). Where it enters the Coastal Plain it is found on the gently rolling areas of the upper portion; toward the coast it is restricted to old dunes and well-drained slopes and ridges above streams and swamp borders.
Like most of the Ericaceae, sourwood generally does not grow on soils of limestone origin (8,11) but is most commonly found growing on soils in the orders Ultisols, Inceptisols, and Entisols.
Associated Forest Cover
Sourwood is an understory to midcanopy associate of the following forest cover types (Society of American Foresters) (6):
40 Post Oak-Blackjack Oak
44 Chestnut Oak
51 White Pine-Chestnut Oak
52 White Oak-Black Oak-Northern Red Oak
53 White Oak
75 Shortleaf Pine
76 Shortleaf Pine-Oak
78 Virginia Pine-Oak
79 Virginia Pine
81 Loblolly Pine
82 Loblolly Pine-Hardwood
110 Black Oak
Other associates, in addition to the cover typespecies, are sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua); yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera); scarlet and southern red oak (Q. falcata); red and sugar maple (Acer rubrumand A. saccharum); shagbark, bitternut, pignut, and mockernut hickory (Carya ovata, C. cordiformis, C. glabra, and C. tomentosa); white ash (Fraxinus americana); American beech (Fagus grandifolia); eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis); flowering dogwood (Cornus florida); sassafras (Sassafras albidum);American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana); eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana); and redbud (Cercis canadensis).
Life History
Reproduction and Early Growth
Flowering and Fruiting- Sourwood is among the latest of the flowering shrubs and trees to bloom, The white, bell-shaped perfect flowers appear from late June to August in copious masses on one-sided racemes clustered in an open particle. The flowers are insect pollinated and are an important honey source in some areas (14).
Seed Production and Dissemination- The fruit is a capsule 6 to 13 min (0.25 to 0.5 in) in length. It ripens in September and October, and the tiny seeds are dispersed gradually throughout the winter by the dehiscing capsule. The number of seeds in clean lots range from 4 080 000 to 12 125 000 seeds per kilogram (1,850,000 to 5,500,000/lb) (14).
Seedling Development- Seedbed requirements are not known for natural regeneration. In the Piedmont, however, sourwood seedlings and saplings are found in all stages of succession from young pine stands to the oak-hickory climax (10). This indicates that seed germination and establishment may occur on litter and under partially shaded conditions.
Techniques have been described for sourwood seed collection, storage, and germination (2,5,14). Acid sandy peat is recommended as a seedbed for sourwood. Germination is epigeal.
Vegetative Reproduction- Sourwood sprouts prolifically and persistently from the stump and often must be treated with herbicides to release more desirable species in second growth and in cutover areas (7,9,12,15). Sourwood is difficult to propagate from cuttings. A single report found softwood cuttings (short side shoots), made with a heel and taken in late July with a 90 ppm IBA soak, rooted 80 percent when placed in a sand
eat (equal volumes) mix under mist (5). No reports were found of propagation by grafting.Sapling and Pole Stages to Maturity
Growth and Yield- The maximum size for sourwood is 24 in (80 ft) in height and 61 cm (24 in) in diameter. It is typically much smaller, reaching 6 to 15 in (20 to 50 ft) in height and 20 to 30 cm (8 to 1 in) in diameter (11).
Sourwood usually remains in the forest understory from seedling to maturity. It occasionally enters the overstory in Piedmont lowland pine stands, but on upland sites it attains the upper canopy only if some disturbance removes the overtopping vegetation (10)
Sourwood develops a slender trunk and small crown in dense stands. In more open situations it forms a short, often leaning trunk dividing into several stout, ascending limbs. Growth is slow in established stands, but the initial growth of sprout in cutover areas is rapid enough to hinder establishment of more desirable species (7,12). Per-acre volume estimates are not available for this specie because it usually grows in mixture with other species rather than in pure stands.
Rooting Habit- No information is currently available on the rooting habit of sourwood.
Reaction to Competition- Sourwood is classed as tolerant of shade and can grow and reproduce in the understory of climax (oak-hickory) forest (3,10,11). Its response to release is not definitely known but is thought to be poor.
Damaging Agents- Several insects attack sour wood but normally do no serious harm (1). The dog. wood-twig borer, Oberea tripunctata, and the twig girdler, Oncideres cingulata, attack the twigs; the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (7), and the hickory horned devil (the larva of the regal moth), Citheronia regalis, attack the foliage.
There are no known reports of serious diseases that affect sourwood.
Special Uses
Sourwood is occasionally used as an ornamental because of its brilliant fall color and midsummer flowers (7). It is of little value as a timber species the wood is heavy and is used locally for handles and fuel and in mixture with other species for pulp (8). Sourwood is important as a source of honey in some areas and sourwood honey is marketed locally.
Genetics
No studies on the genetic characteristics of sourwood have been reported.
