Wood ID requested

[David Hullum]

The bark looks like ash and the heartwood. That is what ash trees look like here in Texas.

[Quinn McCarthy]

Red maple sometimes called soft maple.

you can tell by the bark it isn't ash or birch. All of the species of birch have a pepery bark and the lack of ridges on the bark rule out ash. Montana is too far west for polplar.

If there are any branches. The maples are opposite leafing. That means the buds are opposite each other when you look at the branch.

Hope that helps.

Quinn

Forester by day woodworker by night

[Ken Glass]

I agree with Davis, I believe it to be a variety of Ash.

[Fred Perreault]

From the bark and the colored spots, it looks like some of our eastern poplar. But Honey locust has similar spots around here. If the wood is tight and hard, I would say locust, if soft and spongy-like, then a poplar of some sort.
Fred

[Randy Hoch]

Thanks for all the input. I've got some possible ideas for sure. I'll have to wait two wks to continue the investigation as I'll be on vacation. I was going to see if it fluoresced under the black lite I have at the office today....but I forgot to take it. (Apparently sumac fluoresces.)

Randy

[Jim Sebring]

With those wide growth rings it was a pretty fast growing tree. The bark rules out big leaf (soft) maple that grows around here in the northwest. It looks a little like the red alder that grows around here. Red alder gets its name from the cambium layer color.