Wood Identification Help

[Mark Doering]

Came across an add for free wood from some downed trees, not quite sure what this is... Trunks are as much as 4' across, I went to cut it up for firewood but when splitting a piece the grain caught my eye... I hit this with a few passes from my plane and then wiped on some BLO.

Trees have thick dark brown bark, wood is mostly white, the leaves appeared to be needle like but scaled like cedar. There were no cones or berries anywhere on or around the trees, best guess on height was somewhere around 30'

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[Lee Schierer]

It would help to know what part of the country you are in.

[Danny Hamsley]

Looks like sycamore, but the leaf description does not fit. The 4 hardwood groups in the US that have prominent ray fleck like in the pics are the white oaks, the red oaks, beech, and sycamore. However, it could be an introduced species or an exotic species not native to the US.

[John K Jordan]

Your description and photos narrowed the possibilities to a mere dozens of species! Someone can guess based on the color and significant ray fleck but there are things you can do, for example read the article on wood identification on the Wood Database web site, especially near the bottom. In particular, examining the pores in a small cross section can tell a lot.

If you have a guess the hobbithouseinc web site has the best pictures. Since you have the bark a good tree book can also help. Depending on how important it is to you the US forest products lab can tell you, no charge.

A 4' diameter tree just 30' in height seems awfully squat. I measured one 24" diameter white oak here that came down. It was about 120' long. This was significant since the horse trailer was parked 100' away.

[Bill Adamsen]

I measured one 24" diameter white oak here that came down. It was about 120' long. This was significant since the horse trailer was parked 100' away.

OH my .. sorry John about that trailer!

[John K Jordan]

OH my .. sorry John about that trailer!

That's OK, it wasn't mine. (just kidding!!) It caved the roof in but a few hours with a Porta Power and a sledge hammer and the horses didn't seem to mind.

JKJ

[Mark Doering]

John, that sounds like quite the ordeal!

I am located in Henderson, NV and doubt the trees are native based on their size, location, and the fact that we don't exactly have... trees... There appeared to be maybe 5 or 6 of these trees in a lot maybe 3 acres or so. Here is a better photo showing the bark, as well as one of the cell structure and one of the end grain. The rays are significantly more pronounced on the end grain than the rings which is curious (to my novice eye) I've tried to ID it using a few different websites working from the wood, the bark, and the foliage and can't seem to find a match.
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[Danny Hamsley]

It is an oak. Most likely a species of white oak

[Dennis Ford]

Based on the description, I will guess tamarisk aphllya (salt cedar).

[peter gagliardi]

I will second the Oak of some type assertion.

[Justin Ludwig]

Based on the description, I will guess tamarisk aphllya (salt cedar).

+1 given your location and bark picture

[Danny Hamsley]

The wood looks to be a hardwood, not a softwood. The rays indicate an oak in the second set of pictures.

[Mark Doering]

Saltcedar appears to be the correct identification. Specifically Athel Tamarisk. Based on all the photos I've seen it is a perfect match. Thank you!

[John K Jordan]

Saltcedar appears to be the correct identification. Specifically Athel Tamarisk. Based on all the photos I've seen it is a perfect match. Thank you!

Yikes, reading about this tree I'm glad it doesn't grow around here. We have enough trouble with bush honeysuckle and privet.

Invasive species
It is commonly believed that Tamarix disrupts the structure and stability of North American native plant communities and degrades native wildlife habitat, by outcompeting and replacing native plant species, salinizing soils, monopolizing limited sources of moisture, and increasing the frequency, intensity and effect of fires and floods


Most articles I've are focused on the war against the Tamarisk/Tamarix invasion.

JKJ

[Danny Hamsley]

I believe saltcedar to be correct. I missed that one.