Heavydc2 Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 I cut this from a neighbors yard, but we could not id the tree. The wood is very soft. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Looks Maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgewaterWW Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Looks like "Tree wood" to me. haha Try this web site http://www.trees-id.com/ or if you have a whole tree http://apps.kew.org/trees/?page_id=17 Can you get a leaf? The common used method for determining the identity of a tree is the leaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 I think Carus is probably right. If the wood is as soft as you suggest, possibly silver maple. At first glance I thought sweet gum, but the bark is usually more deeply corrugated than that, though the sapwood and heartwood look similar to yours...and it is very soft. So silver maple is my guess. In what part of the country do you live? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 It's definitely a tree, I'm sure of it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Looks a lot like an Elm tree I cut from my own yard a while back. Silver maple is a good guess as well. Did the bark have any smooth, light gray patches, or was it all rough like the photo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Elm......North side. The green moss is the give away. Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Hmmm...don't think so. Like the sweet gum I mentioned, the bark on elm is also more deeply corrugated. That goes for both American and Siberian cultivars. And the sapwood tends to be a little more brownish. Moss will grow on any tree...north side. I'm sticking with silver maple. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Maple Cracks but no furrows. Elm is furrowed at this size. Also typical of the Silver is the double trunk growing together. Also, pictured is Lichen. I don't see moss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavydc2 Posted April 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Here is a picture of the tree. The leaves were shiny but not lobed if I remember correctly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Silver maple, mos def. Also, pictured is Lichen. I don't see moss. Moss, lichen, yeah, yeah, one's a plant and one's a fungus...round these parts you call green $#*% growing on the base of a tree...moss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Uh oh, nerdiness or shut mouth? I always get that one wrong... Lichen is a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an algae. This I know, but what is moss? Is it an algae? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 As far as I know they're just plants, but they reproduce with spores somehow? Can't remember, but I feel like I should. Just ribbin' ya...erring on the side of nerdiness is advisable in my book. Screw 'em if they don't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted April 1, 2014 Report Share Posted April 1, 2014 Mosses are simple plants. No real roots, spores instead of seeds. But they are actual plants, not algae. They are multi-celled organisms with stems, leaves, and a thingy to hold on with. It's not a root because it doesn't absorb water or nutrients. They get everything through the leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavydc2 Posted April 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 I wasn't asking about the moss... or the lichen. lol. its defiantly not silver maple, the leaves are way off. And the wood is way to soft. the leaves are shiny, not lobed. Thats all I can remember about the leaves, once the leaves return I can take pics... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Shiny and lobed are two different concepts. Maple leaves are shiny on the topside. For many species the shape and color of the buds can be telling. Don't feel like you need to wait for full leaf to post again. For example, all the Maples around here hit full red buds today. They will be green with blossom in two weeks time to have leaves pop in early May. Cottonwood have large cone shaped yellow buds. It is very telling that the branches trend upward and alternate rather than opposing. I'll keep digging, but that bark coloration, texture, and mineral stained heart wood scream Maple at me til you prove me wrong:-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 How about the roots? Every silver maple I have seen sends its roots along the surface. Nearly as bad as a cypress to mow around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgewaterWW Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 For the fun of it I showed the photos to a Arborist in my turning club tonight, He said Silver Maple (with some spalting) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatworks Today Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Not sure, but I see a pair of eyes and an ass crack . Ultimately I call it firewood given it's the crotch.. Hmmm.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 The underside of silver maple leaves are shiny...hence the name "silver" maple. And silver maple is a very soft wood. Just because you hear the word "maple" doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna be rock hard. Not quite as soft as pine, but it lays open like butter under a sharp chain. It's one of the softest hardwoods I've ever cut with a chainsaw. I wouldn't bet my kids' lives that it's a silver maple...but I'm pretty damn certain. You still haven't told us where you live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heavydc2 Posted April 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Ok so I guess more info would help... I am in central mass I have attached three new pictures. Roots: Leaf shape And buds popping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Edit...back in a minute...the leaves you pictured don't match the buds... Edit...yes they do, never mind. Had to go in my backyard to check. Whoever said elm was correct. American elm. The older they get the more deeply corrugated the bark gets...or whatever nerd word Carus used to describe it. Just seeing the cut chunk in the first picture doesn't give you a reference to its size, but put in perspective next to the bigger tree, which is definitely American elm, makes it obvious that it's just a young tree with still immature bark...which is why it looked like silver maple. Glad I didn't bet my kids' lives on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 Ok, I must object. My father is an admitted red-neck, former dairy man. The furrow is the marks a field plow makes. Nerd (eye roll) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid Roger Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 I'm glad I said elm but, I'm sorry I mentioned moss. ......... Rog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgewaterWW Posted April 2, 2014 Report Share Posted April 2, 2014 For the fun of it I showed the photos to a Arborist in my turning club tonight, He said Silver Maple (with some spalting) Not a Maple after seeing the tree, roots and leaf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.