Non Firewood Tree ID

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

Eman85

Minister of Fire
Oct 10, 2022
1,194
E TN
This tree is at the edge of my woods, there are a couple more in deeper in the woods but that's all I've found. We're leaning to Serviceberry but all of the pics of species we've found don't match the blooms. Take a look, tell me your opinion on what it is.

20240416_145912_resized.jpg


20240416_145922_resized.jpg


20240416_145944_resized.jpg


20240416_150006_resized.jpg
 
My guess is dogwood. You’re far enough away from me that I don’t know what species are there though. Don’t hold me to it, lol.
 
My guess is dogwood. You’re far enough away from me that I don’t know what species are there though. Don’t hold me to it, lol.
X2 looks like dogwood around here but I may be wrong
My Mother always said don't bring it into house bad luck
 
Leaves and flowers do not look like the dogwoods I had in TN
 
Meaning? They do look like dogwood there?

(I said not, you said not, so double negative?)
 
Look up Dogwood there are about 6 different ones
The photo here matches the White Dogwood
1713575922610.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
I had three types down there (wild, not cultivated), but they were all different.
You may be right (though I find the veins in the leaves to look a bit different from the typical dogwood veining I know of).
 
  • Like
Reactions: AstroBoy
I would turn this over to Google Lens.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AstroBoy
Meaning? They do look like dogwood there?

(I said not, you said not, so double negative?)
Sorry my bad. Hillbilly coming out. The picture in the original post does not look like the dogwoods we have here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
My first thought from just a picture of the blooms was “Nannyberry,” a type of Viburnum.. I think Nannyberry is a more northern tree/shrub, however, but something in the Viburnum family would make sense. It has opposite branching the way a dogwood does, too. You mentioned Serviceberry; does that mean you’ve noticed berries?
 
Is that some sort of Elderberry? They have clusters of berries like those small flowers will create. But there are probably many shrubs that fruit in clusters like that.
 
Last edited:
I also don’t think this is a type of dogwood. Flowers are definitely not that of the most common flowering dogwood species. And for the White Dogwood picture posted above, the leaves have the distinctive dogwood curved veining, which I don’t see in the original picture. The bark is also less scaly than I’d expect for a dogwood.

I don’t have a good alternative ID to suggest, though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: stoveliker
Ok, I did this:

I would turn this over to Google Lens.

That turns up lots of matches to types of viburnums, as suggested:

My first thought from just a picture of the blooms was “Nannyberry,” a type of Viburnum.. I think Nannyberry is a more northern tree/shrub, however, but something in the Viburnum family would make sense. It has opposite branching the way a dogwood does, too. You mentioned Serviceberry; does that mean you’ve noticed berries?

Browsing a few other links, my best guess is viburnum prunifolium, or Blackhaw. The Wikipedia page says “It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 2–9 metres (7–30 ft) tall with a short crooked trunk and stout spreading branches; in the northern parts of its range, it is a shrub, becoming a small tree in the southern parts of its range.”
 
I checked out Google Lens, never knew about it, and it gave me the info and links on Viburnum and it does look like it's Black Haw. Going to pay attention to it and see what I get for fruits. I will be going to the Arboretum and I'll see if they have any info. We have Viburnums but all shrubs. Thinning out the trees has allowed some trees to bloom that were never noticed.
We have Dogwoods and they were wild and haver the standard looking Dogwood blooms.
FWIW I went to look at the tree today and the heavy rain has knocked all of the blooms completely off.
 
My initial impression was Prunus but looked opposite branching and flowers not in long racemes, so I'm leaning to some type of Viburnum. Looks good fo blackaw viburnum (V. prunifolium) - bark and flowers. Characteristic blackhaw twig branching is 80* from stem, but didn't notice much of that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AstroBoy