Firewood Species Identification

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WarmGuy

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Jan 30, 2006
519
Far Northern Calif. Coast
Anybody know of a good site that helps you identify what type of wood you've got? For example, how to distinguish a cedar from a pine from a fir from a spruce.

Something that says:

The needles/leaves look like this.
The bark looks like this.
The interior of the wood looks like this.
The wood smells like this.

etc.
 
I got a site like that, its somewhere in my brain! LOL...

There are alot of books like that, had one in forestry class in school. There must be sites like that on the 'puter, but probably the best thing is to go buy a book for your area on the globe.

For me in BC we only have so many types of trees, for the pine just look for red needles and listen for the chainsaws.

We have a huge pine beetle problem! Not so bad for a pellet plant though!

Ryan
 
Try a Barnes and Nobles or similar store and get a hold of a field identification manual. There are several, but find one that answers the questions you have. Kind of hard to take the monitor to the wood pile, but the books are great for leaf, bark, size, etc. R. Bruce Hoadley has a book out Understanding Wood is a major reference for me. Costs about $40., I like Good Wood Handbook by Albert Jackson and David Day as a quick reference field book, but it's best for taking to the lumberyard. Good pictures of the cut lumber, but not too good on trees leaves or bark. Somewhere I have an older reference for identification that I know is out of print. Has drawings instead of pictures, but is really superior in descriptions. If I find it I'll add.
 
As I always recommend, the Audubon Tree ID book is a great resource filled with photos and lots of other neat information about trees. I own it and highly suggest you do too!
 
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