# help needed identifying this tree , Hickory maybe?



## MyFyrByrd (Dec 6, 2009)

I have some logs here and would like to know what species they are. Here are a few pics of the logs. All are from the same tree.


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## Wood Duck (Dec 6, 2009)

The wood looks like hickory to me. Has something happened to the bark? It looks like Shagbark Hickory with a lot of the bark taken off.


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## MyFyrByrd (Dec 6, 2009)

Nope, this is the way it came down. Hickory was my first guess but I also thought hickory had much looser bark. Doesn't the bark on hickory look like it peels away from the tree?


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## Wood Duck (Dec 6, 2009)

There are many types of hickory, and looking again at the pictures this could be one of the smooth-barked hickories. Pignut Hickory is the most common smooth-barked hickory here, so that is what I'll call it. Shagbark Hickory, and the less common Shellbark hickory have the really conspicuous shaggy bark that is easy to recognize. I think there are about four or five other hickories in the US that have much smoother bark, and this tree is one of them. I am not sure that there is a lot of difference in the wood, at least not from a firewood perspective.


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## MyFyrByrd (Dec 6, 2009)

Here's another pic taken from a distance.


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## Wood Duck (Dec 6, 2009)

I think that is Shagbark Hickory that for some reason doesn't have much of the shagginess left on the bark. Maybe the tree just wasn't one of the shaggier ones, or maybe the logs were rolled around a little and the bark was knocked off. Either way, it'll be good firewood.


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## MyFyrByrd (Dec 6, 2009)

How long do you recon this wood will take to season properly?


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## DBoon (Dec 6, 2009)

It definitely looks like a hickory to me from the end cut - I cut a lot of it.  

It's definitely not shagbark, and it's not bitternut hickory - that has more of an alligator scale grain.  Maybe pignut - we don't have that much around here for me to know.


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## JustWood (Dec 6, 2009)

SHAGGY    Rut row ,,,,  EVERYBODY WINS!!1


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## DBoon (Dec 6, 2009)

Hi InterchangeabLEE, you da man on the tree IDs, so I defer to you... What tipped you off to Shagbark Hickory?  Even the big pieces are smoother than Shagbark, so I'm confused.


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## MyFyrByrd (Dec 6, 2009)

DBoon,
Good question. I hope to hear an answer from interchangabLEE.  WoodDuck had me leaning towards the Pignut species. Just because the bark doesn't look that "shaggy".


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## Wood Duck (Dec 6, 2009)

The picture of the whole logs shows brighter brown spots on the wood. Those spots look like places where a big piece of shaggy bark was pulled off the log, exposing the brown bark beneath. Also, I see several large, loose plates of bark on the log, indicating Shagbark, not Pignut. The logs look to me like they have had some bark removed. Were you there when the trees were cut down? Were the logs moved around much, potentially breaking off some of the loose bark?


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## rdust (Dec 6, 2009)

My vote is also on shagbark.  I've cut some before and it looked just like that after I was done rolling them onto the trailer and off the trailer.


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## jpl1nh (Dec 6, 2009)

While I think most of us would agree by the wood color that it is likely hickory, there is no way it is shagbark unless someone removed all the bark. http://www.cirrusimage.com/tree_shagbark_hickory.htm  All the red in the bark is quite unique.  Though I'm not personally familiar with this tree, my vote is Bitternut Hickory (Carya cordiformis), check this link and look at the picture with the nuts sitting on the bark. http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=18.  It is widely distributed in Ohio.  I have a good deal of both pignut and shagbark hickory growing in my woods.  Neither have bark that look at all like that. http://copland.udel.edu/~prodrick/IronHill/FieldGuides/pignuthickory.htm  True tree identification is tremedously aided by examining the buds on a twig.  For many wooods, it's tough from just logs in a photo.  Where did you get the wood?  Was it a native tree or a planted ornamental?


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## JustWood (Dec 7, 2009)

Wood Duck said:
			
		

> The picture of the whole logs shows brighter brown spots on the wood. Those spots look like places where a big piece of shaggy bark was pulled off the log, exposing the brown bark beneath. Also, I see several large, loose plates of bark on the log, indicating Shagbark, not Pignut. The logs look to me like they have had some bark removed. Were you there when the trees were cut down? Were the logs moved around much, potentially breaking off some of the loose bark?



I agree. There is also chunks of bark in the pic on the ground. Also, pig hickory usually has a more uniform sapwood than what's pictured.
Either way I GAURANTEE it's hickory.A top notch wood.


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## jpl1nh (Dec 7, 2009)

Wood Duck said:
			
		

> The picture of the whole logs shows brighter brown spots on the wood. Those spots look like places where a big piece of shaggy bark was pulled off the log, exposing the brown bark beneath. Also, I see several large, loose plates of bark on the log, indicating Shagbark, not Pignut. The logs look to me like they have had some bark removed. Were you there when the trees were cut down? Were the logs moved around much, potentially breaking off some of the loose bark?


Were these logs altered in any way from their original natural appearance?


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## MyFyrByrd (Dec 7, 2009)

No attempt was made to remove the bark. Although some of the bark did fall off from cutting into manageable lengths. I guess the next step its to check the pile of branches to inspect the buds. That reference link to the Pignut sure looked close to the bark that's on these logs. At least closer looking than the bitternut hickory photos. I wonder if any of the nuts from the tree would still be lying near where the tree fell. I'm not sure how fast the nuts decay after falling off the tree or when they naturally fall off. Anyone know about this?


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## derecskey (Dec 7, 2009)

+1 for Pignut.


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## CowboyAndy (Dec 7, 2009)

if it is any kind of hickory, plan on 1 1/2 to 2 years for seasoning if split. for the smaller branch pieces that are still round, they will be on the higher end of the seasoning time. i ahve some small branch pieces that were cut in june of 08 that still arent ready.


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## Wood Duck (Dec 7, 2009)

MyFyrByrd said:
			
		

> I'm not sure how fast the nuts decay after falling off the tree or when they naturally fall off. Anyone know about this?



There should be nuts left where the tree was growing, if it got many nuts this year. The nuts themsleves tend to get carried away by animals, but you should always find a few of the husks around, which seem to last for years. Those husks are the things shown in most tree-id-by-nuts illustrations.


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## Jags (Dec 7, 2009)

Young shag bark looks just like your pics.  They don't get shaggy until they start turning middle aged and fat around the middle, with a balding pattern.


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## rwh442 (Dec 7, 2009)

That definately looks like shagbark hickory to me.  My property is surrounded by it and I cut it quite often.


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## WOODBUTCHER (Dec 7, 2009)

146% Shagbark Hickory........Here are bark variations from different aged trees.
Nice heartwood on this rounds!

WoodButcher


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## MyFyrByrd (Dec 7, 2009)

WOODBUTCHER, Now thats what I call a definitive answer. Those pics have me convinced that I was wrong. Shagbark it is. Nice photos. Some of the tree id sites that I've visited don't give good close-ups of the bark. Most of the time bark is all you have to go on when cutting in the middle of winter. Any good sites that you could recommend for future reference?
A BIG THANKS to all who posted here.


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## Rickochet (Dec 8, 2009)

Woodbutcher---- where did you come up with those ID pictures?  They are SWEEEEET!


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## chachdave (Dec 8, 2009)

I wonder if any of the nuts from the tree would still be lying near where the tree fell. I'm not sure how fast the nuts decay after falling off the tree or when they naturally fall off. Anyone know about this?[/quote]

This week end I just happen to take a walk in backyard. Just after my property line next to a small brook was 3 hickory trees. The ground was loaded with nut shells. There should be some nuts or shells still on the ground. They will be black. I found were the tree stand is going. Good score.


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