I noticed a crew tearing down hundreds of trees in a 58 acre wooded area last week and I got permission to go cut some pieces to make bowls out of. One of the crew said the tree shown below is a red oak but I’m not certain based on the leaves and the darkness of the heartwood.
If you could help me identify it I would be much appreciated.
Under a microscope, wood anatomy is easier than fingerprints.
Those sub-cordate (heart-shaped) leaves could be Tilia/basswood but I need to see flowers.
I'm 99% sure (going on just the picture) that the tree and leaf are both Tilia species common name Basswood or Linden tree. Sometime the heart wood can be very dark depending on minerals in the soil. Its a nice wood for bowls in my experience and other useds too...like traditional brushes!!!...Its also a "medicine tree" within my culture. What my Grandmother would call a "grocery store tree"...LOL...:vs_laugh:
Y’all are both correct. It is a Tilia/Basswood Tree. I figured it out once I started working it and realized how well it cuts with a gouge. Man, the smell is NOT pleasant to work with. It’s pretty potent.
It's not oak or cherry. No offense, but are you sure those leaves go with that log?
I've seen that grain pattern before, but I'm having a hard time placing it with those leaves. My first guess is hickory or pecan. But the leaves don't fit, so I'm probably wrong. I'll keep looking.
You are pretty far out of range for that cherry. The leaf is a ringer for a Linden, but bass wood is light colored. The wood looks like elm to me. Red oak has a very different tinge to the wood. Red alder has a slightly simiilar leaf but sap wood and heard wood are the same color. Could also be one of the many birch varieties. Leaf is similar to birch and river birch can have a uniform reddish brown wood and light sap wood like that. Apparently what is called river birch some places is not the same as river birch elsewhere.
I'm now leaning more toward a gum variety because that's what the bark of the main log looks like to me. Might take a sawyer to identify. I've been out of it too long and now only cut firewood. I mistook this one for oak once.
Now birch as pointed out above. The leaves do fit.
I'm 99% sure (going on just the picture) that the tree and leaf are both Tilia species common name Basswood or Linden tree. Sometime the heart wood can be very dark depending on minerals in the soil. Its a nice wood for bowls in my experience and other useds too...like traditional brushes!!!...Its also a "medicine tree" within my culture. What my Grandmother would call a "grocery store tree"...LOL...:vs_laugh:
Could be a mulberry. Leaves are right, bark is similar. Around here, Mulberry wood is very yellow. A little brighter yellow than black locust with which the wood is sometimes confused. (And sometimes confused with Osage Orange wood. )
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