It's pretty sad, I can't tell my Ash from a hole in the ground.

[oakiemac]

Phorester-I did say that I could tell the difference between Ash and a hole in the actual thread Although some might argue the point.

I was in a "Master Woodland managers" class a few years back and there was a female instructor talking about her woodlot that had a lot of Ash trees in it. She then went on to talk about how lightening was always striking her trees and she concluded by saying "Lightening loves my Ash". Everyone was quiet until this one guy spoke up and said "You did say ASH, didn't you?"
Everyone except her got a good laugh out of that.

Thanks for the pics, I think it has helped cure me of this strange problem. I have heard some say they can't tell walnut from Ash and that amazes me because they look different to me.

[WDH]

I agree Oakiemac, ash and walnut bark looks different to me too.  Pardon the fancy word, but walnut does not "anastomitize" like ash and yellowpoplar and hickory.  That hershey-bar-colored-bark is distinctive too.

I enjoyed your ash story .

[beenthere]

Can ya find a meaning for "anastomitize" and fill us in........
It doesn't google as a word...

okay, I found it, by changing it to "anastomatize"           ya-all can google that one.

[WDH]

I never said that I could spell  .  From what I see here, I am not the only one .  I keep seeing the word "yooper" so I know for sure that I am not the only spell-challenged soul .

[Ron Wenrich]

We had a "forester" that was basically a wood pimp in our area a good many years ago.  Seems he had a stand of walnut he wanted to have cut.  He came to some sort of agreement with the sawmill and they sent a crew out to "only cut the walnut".

The crew called the forester and asked where the walnut was at.  Turns out he couldn't tell the difference between walnut and sassafras.     That was pretty much the end of his career. 

[SwampDonkey]

A coworker told me once of a forest tech he went to school with that was cutting red oak in some lowland up along the Tobique River. He went up to see this oak on the yard. I think the guy was looking for an oak market. Anyway it turned out to be balm-of-gilead. 

[WDH]

At the pulp mill (pine only) where I used to work, we transferred a guy out of the mill (an enginner) into the procurement department.  He picked up the business very well and was a good addition to the team.  One morning, he called me very upset and told me that one of the suppliers had just brought in a whole load of hardwood.  Hardwood in the product was a big no-no.  I went down to the woodyard, and it was a load of spruce pine!  Pinus glabra.

[oakiemac]

Sassafras and walnut-hmm. I think it would actually be hard to confuse them.

I looked at a cherry log once and thought it was a dandy until I brushed the snow off and looked a little closer-Red Pine. I'm glad I didn't say anything until I had actully figured out what it was.

[Ron Wenrich]

I had the same double take on larch.  It was in a 3 sided cant that was being used for a log cabin.  Fortunately, I didn't ask what the cherry was being used for.  I asked what the cants were being used for.  Then I was told it was larch for the cabin.    Narrowly missed looking like a fool.   

[Phorester]

Pardon me if I've related this story on this site before.

Several years ago a lady homeowner called and wanted a second opinoin about her sick elm tree.  She had had a tree service person look at it and was told that it had dutch elm disease.  He told her that it might be curable, but it would take a long time and involve injections in the trunk.  It would be expensive and he would not guarentee he could save it, but he thought there was a good chance he could.  She really liked the tree and wanted to save it if she could, but couldn't really afford these treatments if there was little chance they would cure the dutch elm disease.  But if there was a fair chance that the elm could be saved she would spend the money.  So could I please come out and help her decide.

So I went out to look at her sick elm.  It was a red maple, dying from her new driveway put in right against the trunk which took off half the root system. 

[SwampDonkey]

I find red maple quite sensitive even if you add top soil over the existing ground, the roots will smother.

[Sawyerfortyish]

Well heres here one that will really confuse you. Ash barked maple (Norwegian maple) that grows around here looks exactly like ash and if you've never seen one it will make your head spin with the maple leaves. When one shows up at the mill I can only tell it's maple by looking at end grain otherwise you will bet your pay check it's ash.

[SwampDonkey]

Do you mean Acer platanoides ?

Hmm, I have some and I don't see the resemblance. You can even tell a live one from native hard maples because of the milky sap in a fresh picked leaf. They have been bread for different traits as well. Some trees have crimson red leaves and the horticulture community calls them 'crimson king' maple. These maples are not as hardy as our native hard maples up this far north. They get a lot of cankers.