Help Identify Some Wood Please

[Jeff Paxton]

I need some help on what kind of wood this is. A neighbor had a tree blow over during a recent storm. He told me it was wild cherry. When I got there, it didn't look like cherry to me. I have turned quite a bit of cherry, but this looked nothing like what I have turned. The picture is not great, but the heart is clearly yellow. It was also a little bit sappy as well. Is there a difference between cherry which is more reddish and "wild cherry" or is this something completely different? Thanks for any help. I also included a picture of the bark if that will help.

Jeff

[Dick Strauss]

Jeff,
It definitely is not like any cherry I've seen (black, fruit, ornamental cherries) based on the bark patterns. The bark looks more like elm to me but some better pics and your location might help us solve the mystery. You might also include any odors you smell while cutting the wood and how hard the wood is to cut in relation to other woods. Pictures of similar trees and branches might also be useful.

[Jeff Paxton]

Dick,

I live in Arkansas, and there were no distinct odors as I cut it. That was something else I knew was different, the cherry (black I presume) has a distinct, yet pleasant odor to it. I have turned some elm before, but it does seem to be different from that too.

[Terry Quiram]

Jeff

I am almost certain that you have Mulberry. I happen to like Mulberry for turning. It eventually turns a very pleasant dark coppery golden color.

Terry

[robert hainstock]

Take a look at the leaves, they are the most likely identifier for that tree.
Bob

[Jeff Paxton]

There were no leaves. Since it was blown over, about 3/4 of the trunk is out of the ground, so I don't know if it will produce any leaves in few weeks, or if it will even still be in the man's pasture. The heart of the wood is clearly yellow, which I am sure will turn brown. I may rough turn a bowl today to see if that may give some insight. Thanks!

[Nathan Hawkes]

It very well could be "choke cherry" which is Prunus virginiana, I think. I know someone whose kitchen is done in this wood, and it looks kind of an amber brownish red rather than the traditional deep red patina that black cherry gets with time. The bark doesn't look like mulberry to me, but I'm no expert. Mulberry when fresh cut has a very pronounced white ring of almost frothy sap around the heartwood. it also will turn brown very, very rapidly in bright sunlight when green----like a few hours. I left some pieces that I was sawing blanks out of on the driveway to dry after spraying them off----by the time they were dry, the top had turned visibly quite an amber color compared to the bottoms of the chunks. The pieces I was cutting up were freshly cut that morning, and it was summer sun, just FYI.


EDIT: black cherry, Prunus serotina is the cherry that people think of when they think cherry wood. Fruit cherry is a different species from either the other two as well, I'm just not certain the species name. FYI, black cherry ususally has a pronounced hairy fuzz on the central vein on the underside of the leaves. I'm told that "choke cherry" (what we call it in virginia) has no fuzz. Hope this helps.

[curtis rosche]

did it get fruit? mulberry it yellower it almost loost like birdseye maple because of those "spokes" in the center

[Clem Wixted]

... clearly yellow. ...

Jeff

Jeff,

Since you have your new lathe, does all wood look YELLOW?

Clem

[Jeff Paxton]

Clem,

Yes, I am seeing quite a bit of yellow these days, (and lovin it, BTW) but this wood is clearly yellow. As I cut it with a chainsaw, and even turned a bowl over the weekend, it stayed yellow all the way through. In looking at some pictures on this site, I agree with Terry, I believe it is Mulberry. I saw a mulberry bowl that had that same "star pattern" at the pith and it was yellow as well. I like the way it rough turned so I think I will get some more. It was a big tree with the trunk being 2-3 feet in diameter. The guy said I could get all I wanted so I think I'll go back now that I "think" I know what it is.

Jeff

[Clem Wixted]

Jeff,

Another yellow wood is Osage Orange. You are probably already aware of that.

I love to turn OO and I've turned it wet and dry. Sharp tools work best on dry.

The yellow is fairly bright at first but does fade and turn :-(

Clem