# Ash or Bitternut Hickory?



## 3fordasho (Aug 22, 2011)

Ok, I would swear this is ash but several others on another site say it's bitternut hickory...  If it's hickory that would mean I have alot of it in my stacks that I thought was green ash!


----------



## smokinj (Aug 22, 2011)

Ash


----------



## Bocefus78 (Aug 22, 2011)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> Ash



x2 growth rings too wide for hickory


----------



## mywaynow (Aug 22, 2011)

Hickory?  Only because this is something I have and have not been able to id.  The flat faced bark grows in segments, not like Ash.  It splits differently, burns with a nice aroma and is heavier.


----------



## firefighterjake (Aug 22, 2011)

Ash.


----------



## certified106 (Aug 22, 2011)

I cut a lot of Hickory and can tell you that it doesn't look anything like Hickory


----------



## Backwoods Savage (Aug 22, 2011)

Is that what you call a knot-hickory?


----------



## amateur cutter (Aug 23, 2011)

Backwoods Savage said:
			
		

> Is that what you call a knot-hickory?


 :lol:  :lol:  :lol:


----------



## Woody Stover (Aug 23, 2011)

mywaynow said:
			
		

> The flat faced bark grows in segments, not like Ash.


Doesn't look like Ash bark to me, either...


----------



## smokinj (Aug 23, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> mywaynow said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I guess the leaves are really messy with you. ;-)


----------



## Woody Stover (Aug 23, 2011)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> Woody Stover said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hard to tell. The leaves are a little dried out and they're trunk leaves, but the leaflets look stalkless. Bitternut is a common Hickory, like Pignut is...


----------



## smokinj (Aug 23, 2011)

3fordasho said:
			
		

> Ok, I would swear this is ash but several others on another site say it's bitternut hickory...  If it's hickory that would mean I have alot of it in my stacks that I thought was green ash!




Known pignut hickory.


----------



## oldspark (Aug 23, 2011)

Green Ash


----------



## Woody Stover (Aug 23, 2011)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> Known pignut hickory.


*Haven't seen a Bitternut yet, but Pignut? Oh yeah...*
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/Hearth/001-12.jpg
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/Hearth/002-8.jpg


----------



## smokinj (Aug 23, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> smokinjay said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The rings are much tighter on yours vs op pic's! :cheese:


----------



## Woody Stover (Aug 23, 2011)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> The rings are much tighter on yours vs op pic's! :cheese:


True, but the ring width is just an indicator of how fast the tree was growing. A woods tree that doesn't get much light is going to have less growth each year. I went out and looked at mine again...there were some pretty wide rings on some branches. Maybe those branches were getting more light. Look at the top (or left) OP pic. The branch with the dark heartwood has pretty tight rings. And I don't know how Bitternut compares with Pignut as to ring width.

Anyhow, I'm waiting for more heavyweight wood ID nerds to check in.... ;-P


----------



## CTYank (Aug 23, 2011)

Not enough contrast between heart/sap wood to be hickory. IMHO.


----------



## smokinj (Aug 23, 2011)

Woody Stover said:
			
		

> smokinjay said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 ;-)


----------



## oldspark (Aug 23, 2011)

Green ash up the ash here and I'm all in thats what it is.


----------



## DBoon (Aug 24, 2011)

This looks like Bitternut Hickory to me - I cut a lot of it on my father-in-law's property.  The photo of the smoother bark gave it away for me.  The photo with the round split in half had the bitternut dark streaks in it as well.  If you could show a close up of the plainsawn grain when it is split, that would probably convince everyone it is Bitternut Hickory and not Ash.


----------



## nrford (Aug 24, 2011)

ASH no ifs ands or buts!!


----------



## Woody Stover (Aug 24, 2011)

nrford said:
			
		

> ASH no ifs ands or buts!!


I've only seen White Ash here, but the OP's pics look like the Green Ash bark pics in the Field Guide, to be sure. BTUs look decent on the Green...


----------



## oldspark (Aug 24, 2011)

DBoon said:
			
		

> This looks like Bitternut Hickory to me - I cut a lot of it on my father-in-law's property.  The photo of the smoother bark gave it away for me.  The photo with the round split in half had the bitternut dark streaks in it as well.  If you could show a close up of the plainsawn grain when it is split, that would probably convince everyone it is Bitternut Hickory and not Ash.


 None of the OP's wood has been split, there are pictures of Hickory mixed in with the ash for reference.


----------

