What the Heck Kinda Wood is This?????????

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OldWrangler

OldWrangler

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Joined
Jan 29, 2008
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Location
Spring, Texas, USA.
Here's another fun contest. Tree grows in my back yard. I have been here for almost 40 years so I know I must have planted it but I don't even remember when. Got to pruning it today while it was cold and discovered some great wood for pens. The tree is not a native Texan, it is decidious, it has big shady leaves and grows readily from cuttings in the spring.

It is not BOIS D'ARC or OSAGE ORANGE or TEXAS HORSE APPLE but the wood is about the same bright yellow.

As usual, winner gets a nice piece with a bunch of blanks in it. Here are pictures of the wood, the bark, the end grain and a close up of some bee's wing graining. This is pretty stuff but I'll really be surprised if anyone guesses this one.
 

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smoke tree, cotinus obovatus :biggrin: aka as a rhus , syn. Rhus cotinoides its the yellow colour that lets me think its that if its not that its something along those lines...
 
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I've got y'all running now.......but none of the above.

Jon, I didn't know Huisache grows this big. This tree is 20" in diameter and 20'+ tall.

Alex, I wish it were Agarita, I'd have that whole tree cut up and in my shop. Only ever had one piece of Agarita (think it was root ball) and it made a really pretty pen that sold immediately...before I could even get a picture of it.

Greg, I don't know Belian. I'm gonna have to look it up.

Now you've used up all the easy guesses, I suppose you'll have to do some serious research. The genus of this tree is familiar to most people but you gotta tell me which particular species this is. I'm giving it away so I'm outta here. Keep those guesses coming in.
 
I had Huisache that are 30" diameter...color is pinkish brown.

Agarita is a bush. I've heard some who claimed to have seen as big as 4" diameter branch...but I cannot believe that until I see one myself since they are prone to rot. The roots can be bigger though and makes wonderful pens (just ask Curtis :wink: )
 
Since mulberry has already been guessed, I'll guess a PERSIMMON that has passed it's prime. (I know the bark looks too fine for persimmon but that's my guess anyway)
 
Mike, you are good at this game and I don't know how you know your wood so good. There are a lot of Mulberrys, pinpoint this one for me. It is a very special one. I make canes from this one because of how it grows. Is that enough of a clue?

I got one more tree in the back yard to prune and it's got some good wood. It might be one to fool you although it is getting more common. I'll get it pruned and cut some to show the grain.

Hoss, at least you know you had it nailed....second place isn't bad.

So Mike, name the specie of Mulberry and I'll ship out your wood. Still have your address from the last winning guess.
 
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There's the money.....Contorted Mulberry (Morus alba "Unryu") a cultivar native to Australia. One of the White Mulberries. Non-fruiting.

A medium density hardwood with a closed, straight grain. Color is a bright yellow sapwood with a light tan heart wood. Color tends to turn brown with exposure to sunlight. To the uninitiated, this wood can be confused with osage orange, but differences in the wood structure are trivially easy to spot in the end grain. The late growth in mulberry is full of open pores, much like ash, whereas the late growth in osage orange is solid. Also, the rays and general structure are different but that's harder to detect. See the end grain closeups of both on this site. Another thing that makes them very easy to distinguish is that mulberry is about 40 pounds per cubic foot where as osage orange is about 55.

Nice guess Dale but the prize goes to Mike for having the first guess at Mulberry. Thanks to all who replied. Watch for my next one......soon.
 
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