# Identify this wood?



## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

Anyone know what kind of wood this is? It was a dead tree in my parents backyard I cut down, it has some nice spalting in it, I just don't know what kind of tree it was as there were no more leaves on it. i am in NC.


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## Bobmedic (Sep 24, 2010)

Looks like Maple


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## Tomj (Nov 18, 2011)

Looks a little like sycamore. It's actually pretty hard to tell a tree from it's bark except for some like "shagbark Hickory" "Honey Locust" for it's thorns "white Birch and plenty others but most don't have any distinct feature you could see from looking at the bark. A picture of the end of the log where you could see the growth rings would probably help even more. I'm sure someone can figure this one out. Good luck.


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

It reminds me of red maple, too.


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

welcome to LJ's. I'd say maple.


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## tyskkvinna (Mar 23, 2010)

Maple down there has a smoother bark? It looks like the sycamore trees up here.


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

My guess was Maple too as their yard has a lot of Maple trees. I'm going to pick up some more pieces today and ill post more pictures of them.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Any leaves lying around? Leaves from other trees still standing? That might help.


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

top branch of sycamore tree


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

Another thing to add, this was not a branch, it was the trunk, it branched off into 4 or 5 other trunks and the others were not as big of round as this one.

I turned a piece round to see what it looks like and it has a darker Yellow tinting to it than Maple normally does, but I haven't worked with Maple that was still wet so maybe thats the cause of the Yellowish color or maybe it is Sycamore


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

ok maple then


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

I cut the rest of the bunch down today. Do Maple trees grow in a bunch like this picture? There were 5 of them growing from the same base.

I couldn't find another tree in their yard that looked like it, but none of them were this small. I was reading online that Maple trees have smooth bark when they are young? This one has smooth bark.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

May be hackberry


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

Not maple or Sycamore. Like gfadvm, could be Hackberry but the bark looks wrong.

My suggestion is to haul a round down to the local extension agent and let him figure it out.


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

What is an extension agent?


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

There were never any berries on the tree.


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

every county or area in a state has a county extension agent they govern agriculture


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

sycamore grows in clusters and so does maple


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

could be ironwood


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

its black willow I seen the leaves


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

yes positive its a willow


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## Straightbowed (Feb 9, 2012)

wrong again dont know


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

So how are those replies any help??


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

In NC, red maple commonly grows in clusters. It is not sycamore. It does not look knobby enough on the bark for hackberry. Plus, hackberry is ring porous which gives very distinct grain like in oak and ash while maple is diffuse porous with much more subdued grain. Hackberry had latewood pores arranged in wavy bands, maple does not. Take a close up pic of the end grain that has been sliced smooth with a razor blade, and that will definitively answer you question.


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## EPJartisan (Nov 4, 2009)

It is possible it is a immature maple cluster.. I am thinking silver maple.. but really hard to tell from the pictures. Definitely not sycamore..  I see no parenchyma cells and syc is full of them.. thats what gives it that lacewood grain without the lacewood price.. and often used as a secondary wood to furniture making. Maples tend to grow in rings like this when the parent tree dies early on from fire or cutting (strangely I have not read nor witnesses a cluster from a tree that dies of old age or disease.) Maple bark tends to turns from smooth to chunky as it gets older. These look about 25-30 yo. and must have been dead standing for a long time to be so spalted. How tall were the highest branches?


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

They were about 30-40 feet tall. I emailed an extension agent the pictures and they said it looked like some sort of Maple as well. Not sure how long it has been dead but the wood is still wet so I will let them sit a year or so in my shed to dry out.


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## DanceParty (Jun 30, 2011)

"What is an extension agent?"

Your local forester.


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

We have a man that is paid by our local govt that is called an extension agent. He has a degree from an agricultural college and he is the go to guy when you have a question about trees, grass, gardens, pesticides and herbicides or need soil tested for proper ph balance and nutrient balance. An all around good guy and a part time shade tree mechanic….LOL


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## benny555 (May 27, 2012)

As I posted above, I talked to an extension agent who said it was maple..


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## donwilwol (May 16, 2011)

http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/


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