Just another tree in need of ID

I will throw the first guess out there. To me, it looks like Elm.

My guess is black walnut. The very light sapwood and dark inner wood are typical. The bark looks similar too. Were there any leaves laying around where you found the logs? Do you have access to them? It would help with identification.

Jeff, I don’t have direct access to the leaves. It is growing in a cemetary by my house, so I suppose I could find it, but I did cut a thin piece from the log to show the grain. I put a little Danish oil to accentuate the grain;

From Unknown tree 1

-- Tom - As you get older, you learn to hide your mistakes better

That looks like walnut to me…

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

I am pretty sure its black walnut.

-- Yves

It is not black walnut. The bark is not dark and furrowed, the inner bark in not yellow, and the heartwood is not chocolate brown. The heartwood of the board in the pic is more of a dark-yellowish brown with a pronounced ray fleck. Looks like mulberry.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

WDHLT15, you’re right about the fleck. The edge grain seems to resemble some edge grain I’ve seen on Maple boards, albeit a different color.

-- Tom - As you get older, you learn to hide your mistakes better

Ok, I have an elm tree in my back yard. Stick factory of a tree, but that is a story for another day. Had to saw up a branch on it today. No doubt, to me, your pic is elm. The large spaced growth rings, the color of heart/sap, the bark all are same as pics. Pretty confident on this one.

If is elm, then the latewood pores will be arranged in very distinct wavy bands. I did not see that in the pic, but that does not mean that they are not there. Can you take a little closer shot of the growth rings/end grain?

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

Looks like hickory to me.

-- Powered by Smith & Wilson~~~

At this point, I would not argue against hickory either. A close up of the end grain will likely solve this mystery.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

Wow, it’s like having the tree detectives on your side . . . thanks for the input, guys. Here’s a few more shots. Same wood, different log; sanded to 120;

From Unknown tree 1

From Unknown tree 1

From Unknown tree 1

I tried 3 different settings on the camera. #1 and #3 are closest to life color under a fluorescent light.

-- Tom - As you get older, you learn to hide your mistakes better

It don’t look like walnut to me…

Looks like a fast growing tree…

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

OK! So it is definitely not elm as the latewood pores are not arranged in wavy bands. It is not an oak because it does not have the large medullary rays (the feature that gives quartersawn oak that beautiful ray fleck). I am almost positive that what you have is black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia.

Black locust only ever has a narrow sapwood band, usually only a couple of growth rings wide. The wood is ring porous with large earlywood pores and small latewood pores like oak, hickory, and ash. The pores should be occluded with tyloses which are white crystalline structures that clog up the pores (this is why white oak is used for wine and whiskey barrels as the tyloses impede water movement. Red oak does not have these structures). That appears to be the case in the pics. The wood should be dense and heavy. Black locust is a member of the pea family, the fruit is a pod, and the leaves are bi-pinnate compound, which is rather unusual for native trees. The flowers are pea shaped, white or lavender, and showy. The wood is one of the most rot resistant native american hardwoods. Black locust posts last for decades in the ground.

This should make some especially nice boxes indeed!

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

Black locust has stipular thorns, a pair at the base of each bud on the twig, just like the thorns on a rose bush. Honeylocust has thorns that are modified branches. They are dangerous, long, and the thorns branch making them formidable weapons. They occur anywhere on the trunk or branches, not just associated with a bud. Leaves on black locust are compound and are divided once (pinnate compound) while the leaves on honeylocust are compound and are divided twice (bi-pinnate compound). The bark of honeylocust is generally smoother than that of black locust. Both are legumes and have pea-like pods. The wood of black locust of yellowish brown while that of honeylocust is more of an yellowish reddish orange. The pores of honeylocust are not typically fully occluded with tyloses as they are in black locust. Also, honeylocust is not as rot resistant as black locust.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15