Tree id help needed


Heavydc2

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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?

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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.

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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...  

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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:-)

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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.

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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. :D

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