# black birch or pin cherry?



## Kosmonauts (Mar 27, 2016)

had a post on here about a month ago about a tree ID and a debate began between it being black birch and pin cherry or black cherry.  It was mostly white but had a red core and here are some pictures of a split.  Thanks...


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## drz1050 (Mar 27, 2016)

Smell it. If it's black birch, it'll smell like peppermint. Cherry smells like cherry cola.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 27, 2016)

drz1050 said:


> Smell it. If it's black birch, it'll smell like peppermint. Cherry smells like cherry cola.


I'm familiar with the cherry smell and was actually surprised for it to not smell like cherry...it's more of a woody almost kind of menthol smell...


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## CincyBurner (Mar 27, 2016)

If it smells of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) = birch


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 27, 2016)

CincyBurner said:


> If it smells of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) = birch


Yea I'm leaning more towards birch even though I was pretty convinced it was cherry but just didn't have the smell and I've never seen the pearl white borders in cherry.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 27, 2016)

CincyBurner said:


> If it smells of wintergreen (methyl salicylate) = birch


Does have a hint of wintergreen


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## drz1050 (Mar 27, 2016)

Peppermint, wintergreen, knew it was some sort of minty smell... whoops


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## AmbDrvr253 (Mar 27, 2016)

Outwardly they are fairly difficult to misidentify


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 27, 2016)

AmbDrvr253 said:


> Outwardly they are fairly difficult to misidentify


What do you think then according to the picture?


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## weatherguy (Mar 28, 2016)

That looks like cherry in the pic but it's slightly out of focus. I had the fortune of getting 2 cords of black birch that I've been burning this year and I'm also surrounded by pin cherry. I've probably had 7-8 come down between my property and neighbors and my brothers property so I've been burning both all year. World of difference between the two once they season.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

weatherguy said:


> That looks like cherry in the pic but it's slightly out of focus. I had the fortune of getting 2 cords of black birch that I've been burning this year and I'm also surrounded by pin cherry. I've probably had 7-8 come down between my property and neighbors and my brothers property so I've been burning both all year. World of difference between the two once they season.


I can imagine!  I just have never seen cherry be so white...the center is dark reddish but the majority of the wood is white.  Also definetely doesn't smell like cherry...


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

Your probably right though it's probably cherry


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## weatherguy (Mar 28, 2016)

I'll take a pic of a split of each later and we can compare it to yours.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

weatherguy said:


> I'll take a pic of a split of each later and we can compare it to yours.


That would be FANTASTIC


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

@weatherguy doea the birch have some darker brown or red in the middle?


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## PA. Woodsman (Mar 28, 2016)

Can you post a picture of the bark on a bigger split? Black Birch bark changes as it gets older.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

PA. Woodsman said:


> Can you post a picture of the bark on a bigger split? Black Birch bark changes as it gets older.


Absolutely....here you go...thanks in advance I really appreciate it


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

It was a little older than I thought...But the bark of the cherries anywhere in my area even the ones of the exact same size don't have as much smoothness to them, and also there is not the cherry smell AT ALL.


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## Fanatical1 (Mar 28, 2016)

It's black birch...


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

Fanatical1 said:


> It's black birch...


thanks so much!  What was the give away and any attributes that made you decide?


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## Fanatical1 (Mar 28, 2016)

Kosmonauts said:


> thanks so much!  What was the give away and any attributes that made you decide?



I have been wrong before once or twice ( just ask my wife!) but I think it's black birch and here's why.

I think a pin cherry and black birch look very similar especially when younger. They both have horizontal lines or wrap to the bark making them look very similar. As the black birch ages the bark changes and it looks similar to the picture you posted above. As others have said, the way to tell for sure is to peel that bark back and smell. If it smells like wintergreen it's a black birch not a pin cherry. I also think the wood is too light in color to be a pin cherry. I think the pictures of the small diameter logs you posted make us all think pin cherry, but that's what young black birch trees look like also.

Do a good sniff test peeling that bark back again and report back.  I think the definitive answer lies in that distinct wintergreen smell of a black birch.


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## PA. Woodsman (Mar 28, 2016)

Fanatical1 said:


> It's black birch...




I agree, you can tell by the "peely" bark. Plus the Wintergreen aroma is the giveaway! It's great fuelwood!


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## Fanatical1 (Mar 28, 2016)

Here's a pic of an older big black birch on our property with a big burl on it... You can see how with this older tree the bark has become peeled, but still see some of those tell tale horizontal lines or wrap to the bark. Not really the best picture of a black birch to show the bark comparison but it's all I had.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

Fanatical1 said:


> I have been wrong before once or twice ( just ask my wife!) but I think it's black birch and here's why.
> 
> I think a pin cherry and black birch look very similar especially when younger. The both have horizontal lines or wrap to the bark making them look very similar. As the black birch ages the bark changes and it looks similar to the picture you posted above. As others have said, the way to tell for sure is to peel that bark back and smell. If it smells like wintergreen it's a black birch not a pin cherry. I also think the wood is too light in color to be a pin cherry. I think the pictures of the small diameter legs you posted make us all think pin cherry, but that's what young black birch trees look like also.
> 
> Do a good sniff test again and report back.  I think the definitive answer lies in that distinct wintergreen smell of a black birch.


Well it's a very woody smell with almost a menthol type note...very minimal but it doesn't smell like cherry I know that.  Also all of my cherry is red all the way through and this has a lot of white in the wood and when I cut it it was a very pearl white with a darker center


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

Fanatical1 said:


> Here's a pic of an older big black birch on our property with a big burl on it... You can see how with this older tree the bark has become peeled, but still see some of those tell tale horizontal lines or wrap to the bark. Not really the best picture of a black birch to show the bark comparison but it's all I had.
> 
> View attachment 177415


I seethanks so much for that!


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## PA. Woodsman (Mar 28, 2016)

Here in PA. we also refer to Black Birch as "Cherry Birch" just to confuse everyone a little more lol!


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

PA. Woodsman said:


> Here in PA. we also refer to Black Birch as "Cherry Birch" just to confuse everyone a little more lol!


I'm in PA as well...I can see why it would be called cherry birch though, because of the color of some of the wood and it obviously gets mixed up with cherry, yes?


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## CincyBurner (Mar 28, 2016)

As an aside . . .
    yellow birch (_Betula alleghaniensis_) also has a wintergreen smell too, but is _very_ easy to differentiate from _B. lenta_ on older trees by its exfoliating yellow/ gray bark (with small saplings it's tough and best to go by twigs).  Similar range to _B. lenta_. in Allegheny mountains.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 28, 2016)

CincyBurner said:


> As an aside . . .
> yellow birch (_Betula alleghaniensis_) also has a wintergreen smell too, but is _very_ easy to differentiate from _B. lenta_ on older trees by its exfoliating yellow/ gray bark (with small saplings it's tough and best to go by twigs).  Similar range to _B. lenta_. in Allegheny mountains.


Thank you man!!  Yellow birch caught my wye


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## Fanatical1 (Mar 28, 2016)

I found this with a quick Google search... Sounds like a familiar debate between pin cherry and black birch. More common in appearance than we think?

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=63004.0


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## weatherguy (Mar 29, 2016)

Forgot to take the picture but your second picture is much clearer and it is black birch. The color of the wood is pretty uniform throughout the birch. Another thing I notice on black birch bark there are some white spots and there's none on the cherry, I can see the white spots in your second picture, actually greenish on yours.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 29, 2016)

weatherguy said:


> Forgot to take the picture but your second picture is much clearer and it is black birch. The color of the wood is pretty uniform throughout the birch. Another thing I notice on black birch bark there are some white spots and there's none on the cherry, I can see the white spots in your second picture, actually greenish on yours.


Ok cool thanks a bunch!!


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## paul bunion (Mar 29, 2016)

Fanatical1 said:


> Here's a pic of an older big black birch on our property with a big burl on it... You can see how with this older tree the bark has become peeled, but still see some of those tell tale horizontal lines or wrap to the bark. Not really the best picture of a black birch to show the bark comparison but it's all I had.
> 
> View attachment 177415


Based on that photo alone I would call that a yellow birch.  Although black birch can have a greyish/white surface appearance,  it should have a much darker undertone than what you have there.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 29, 2016)

paul bunion said:


> Based on that photo alone I would call that a yellow birch.  Although black birch can have a greyish/white surface appearance,  it should have a much darker undertone than what you have there.


Definetely not a cherry though you say?


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 30, 2016)

CincyBurner said:


> As an aside . . .
> yellow birch (_Betula alleghaniensis_) also has a wintergreen smell too, but is _very_ easy to differentiate from _B. lenta_ on older trees by its exfoliating yellow/ gray bark (with small saplings it's tough and best to go by twigs).  Similar range to _B. lenta_. in Allegheny mountains.


Wow I took another smell today and it was very strong wintergreen.  I peeled back the paperish bark and sniffed.  SO HAPPY ITS BLACK BIRCH!  score one for the stove!


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## splions (Mar 31, 2016)

Kosmonauts said:


> Wow I took another smell today and it was very strong wintergreen.  I peeled back the paperish bark and sniffed.  SO HAPPY ITS BLACK BIRCH!  score one for the stove!


My favorite...easy to split, fast drying, burns hot with high BTU content, makes little ash...you will enjoy it.


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## DBoon (Mar 31, 2016)

The older bark picture makes me 100% certain it is black birch.  Pin Cherry is very light as well, much, much lighter than birch.  I've planted a bunch  of Pin Cherry trees on my property - they don't get that big before the break off and blow over.  If it is more than 6" or so in diameter, I would find it hard to believe it would be a Pin Cherry.


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