What is up with this wood???

[cbfarmall]

Now I wish my friend and I had brought the wood back like we had originally planned. We had an empty 20 foot trailer for the ride back home, but we were too exhausted from the trip south and unloading the trailer. I was ticked off at the wood for contributing to wrecking my chains and would just as soon have tossed it in the ocean. Besides, our fuel mileage sucked and we weren't in the mood for lugging something back we really didn't need.

Flipping through my tree books, the bark does look identical to bitternut--just as glens says. I'll take a walk through my woods and see if I can spot any for comparison.

Thanks guys, Chris B.

 

[Van]

It's Hickory alright. May have some fence wire in it or have seen them pick up rocks in the lower stump. Hickory is a dirty wood and will also have sand in it. We have them all over the place in the Ozarks. I live 10 miles from the lake.
Van

 

[Al Smith]

A change of opinion

After looking at the picture,and looking at a piece of known bitternut,I do believe,it is in fact bitternut.What threw me was the color variation.I think it has some to do with the mineral content of the soil.A good example of this is that black locust,in this part of Ohio[limestone substrata],has a somewhat,yellow color.In Knox county {about 100 miles east}the color is more of an orange[ sand stone,granite,unglaciated].Picture is a piece,with a "cookie" cut off to show the grain,against the backdrop of a rather large bitternut. Al

 

[glens]

Al,

I've been looking at your photo and, well, that bark sure looks much more deeply furrowed than anything here.  I just walked out with a flashlight and took another look at a bitternut hickory that stands a good 110 feet tall, maybe 30 inches d.b.h. and it's bark is not nearly as deeply figured as what you're showing.  In fact, it almost exactly matches the original photos in this thread in that respect.

What are the leaf characteristics on your tree?  What's the typical leaflet count and are the end three very much larger than the rest?  I'm wondering if it isn't more like a pignut hickory, maybe even a mockernut.

Thanks.

Glen

 

[Al Smith]

Bitternut?

Glens;I think the leaf count is 5.These trees are also around 100 feet.Last year I had to get my binoculars to see the leaves,because the canopy is at about 50 feet.I am going to my shop this morning to do some repair work,so I will take a picture of the lumber,cut last year,and send a post in the p.m. The picture,enclosed is what I think is a bitternut,with a shagbark in the background. Al

 

[glens]

Hey Al.  Just bark can be a tough way to ID a tree between variability and others being similar.  And the heartwood in the thread starter wasn't in the best of shape, along with the color balance of those images maybe being a bit off, all adding to the difficulty.

Attached is a composite image of what's gone before here, with the bark images from the two vt.edu links in the next paragraph stacked on the far right; bitternut on top, pignut on bottom.

Compare your most recent pic with <a href="http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/cglabra.htm">this</a> (looks like a dead ringer), then the <a href="http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?postid=175713">second original image</a> with <a href="http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/ccordiformis.htm">this</a>.

Compare the two vt.edu pages and note the leaf structures, not so much just the leaflet counts, but the relative sizes of the leaflets within each leaf; also the buds.

Glen

 

[Al Smith]

Bitternut etc.

Glens;Enclosed are pictures of the lumber,that came from the main trunk of the tree in question.The color rendition is bad,but there is a distinct darkening,or grayishness in the heart wood .In the picture attached,the plank and short 1"board in the left ,are the wood in question.The little flitch,with bark is black cherry,The one on the right is red oak.All are setting on a short stack of red oak.The hickory was a windfall,and is evideced by the picture,is a poor grand of lumber{ants}but usable for some thing.The cherry,I am happy to say,is a different story.Although not a giant,this tree yielded 18 1"by 12" by 18 foot ,straight as a cue stick,no knots,no voids no imperfections at all,boards.In addition to that many lesser grade from the flitches and also 7.5 feet of figured,from the bottom of the log.I took this one at ground level,with a d4 cat on a cable,and the sawyer did me a very fine job.Al

 

[Al Smith]

Hickory leaves

I am sending this picture to try and help with identifing the bitternut or what ever it is.The 5 cluster,came from a tree identical to the one in question.The 7 cluster,came from a shagbark.Al

 

[glens]

Re: Hickory leaves

Originally posted by Al Smith
I am sending this picture to try and help with identifing the bitternut or what ever it is.The 5 cluster,came from a tree identical to the one in question.The 7 cluster,came from a shagbark.Al

I would say that neither leaf came from a pecan hickory.&nbsp; Both the pecan (itself) and bitternut have the same type of leaflet relative sizes (almost like the largest pair is second from the tip instead of first pair like the "true" hickories).&nbsp; Pecan has the largest overall leaf and bitternut the smallest of all the hickories if I remember it right.

I'm pretty sure what you've got is pignut, which is a better grade of wood (essentially the same as shagbark) than bitternut.&nbsp; With the build-type range of hickories starting at pecan and ending at shagbark , bitternut would be second in line and pignut about midway.&nbsp; They're all good in my opinion.

Big hickories make a big thud, don't they!

Glen

 

[trimmmed]

I'm thinking(guessing) pignut as well.