Indentifying Hardwoods, uses and properties

[SwampDonkey]

Here is a link to yet another tree ID site. The descriptions and silvics are general, as there may be several species in each genus. It includes info on end uses , grading by species, staining and physical properties of the wood with sample pictures.

Give it a go Here

cheers

[edit] Just thought I'de make this a sticky post because there is lots of interest in knowing how wood looks stained, what different grades look like and end uses of wood.

[Furby]

 
Thanks!

[Fred]

Ok I have a question.  Silly as it may sound I never had the chance to saw soft or hard maple. I know what a maple tree is when I see one but not sure if it is a soft or hard..Does one have slick bark and the other have the curly bark?
               Thanks Fred

[SwampDonkey]

Fred:

We had a discussion on here last winter about tree id by bark. Its hard for me to explain the bark characteristics in your area because of different climate and growing conditions. Many sawyers and log buyers have a trained eye for the different species they saw/purchase in their area of the country. If they go to another region they may get stumped. I once heard of a buyer confusing balsam poplar for red oak. The smell alone would convince me it wasn't oak, but the bark stumped him. He hadn't considered other physical characteristics I guess.

Bark Samples-Click

In my area I find mature red maple (white/soft maple) has flaky bark. Red maple suckers very badly from injuries are harvesting, even on very large trees. Sugar maple (rock/hard maple) has white blotches in the bark. Mature sugar maple don't sucker much, young trees do better at suckering.

If you can see the bud of red maple they are blunt and red, sugar maple are brown and sharp pointed.

cheers

[Fred]

Thanks SwampDonkey  I think I got it figgered out now.
              Fred

[SwampDonkey]

Identifying Trees of the Pacific Northwest - BC

[eldorado]

Here's a good list of Southeastern Hardwoods:
http://rnrstreamer.lsu.edu/ecosystems/webtour/listcommon.htm

This is a really cool interactive tour of different timber scenarios:
http://rnrstreamer.lsu.edu/ecosystems/webtour/site_summary.htm 

[SPIKER]

swampdonkey:

great post so far!

the link for the maple id by bark was broken for me though?

anyhow I may be able to send photos if I could get this computer prob fixed...   using OLD one and new one died which has camera on ...  I got  some good hardwood ohio trees with very varried species as the property was onece a tree farm some 30+ yrs ago.

mark m

[SwampDonkey]

swampdonkey:

great post so far!

the link for the maple id by bark was broken for me though?

anyhow I may be able to send photos if I could get this computer prob fixed...   using OLD one and new one died which has camera on ...  I got  some good hardwood ohio trees with very varried species as the property was onece a tree farm some 30+ yrs ago.

mark m

You can see the bark in the 'Overwintering Trees' thread near to top of this board. Take a read through that thread and IM me if you want to contribute some photos. Credit will be acknowledged. 

Thanks

[SwampDonkey]

Link to bark ID fixed 

[SPIKER]

hey swampdonky:

I  posted pic in my gallery (finally got some set to size.) and on there some maple oak & hickory stuff

mark M

[SwampDonkey]

Thanks mark, I'll link them up on the Tree ID thread over the weekend. 

[Samuel]

Forestry is so much easier with respect to tree identification in the northern Alberta boreal forest.  For example:

 Black Poplar & Black Spruce:


Trembling Aspen:






Lodgepole Pine & White Spruce:


Birch:



However I do miss the hardwood in New Brunswick in the Fall...

[SwampDonkey]

Sam, I'm trying to think what black poplar is. Is it black cottonwood, or balsam poplar (balm-of-gilead)? Got a latin name? I'm not trying to quiz ya, just don't know what it is.


cheers

[SwampDonkey]

However I do miss the hardwood in New Brunswick in the Fall...

Sam, check out ............

My trip up the Tobique

So how big ya want'm?

[Samuel]

Sam, I'm trying to think what black poplar is. Is it black cottonwood, or balsam poplar (balm-of-gilead)? Got a latin name? I'm not trying to quiz ya, just don't know what it is.


cheers

Common names are a pain sometimes hey...  Black poplar in the pics are balsam.  Sorry for the confusion.  Thanks for the Tobique pics.  Some of it looked familiar however its going on 11 years since I have been home.

[jim king]

This will either get you dizzy or help you.

http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/CommNames2000.html

http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/

[andysheffield]

A comprehensive guide to British trees - http://www.british-trees.com/index.htm

[Qweaver]

This site shows good pictures of a huge number of sawn and planed wood.  once you are at the opening page you can then click on the picture of each type of wood to get more pictures of that wood.  Very well done pictures.

small file size with a limited number of pics
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/index.htm

Large file size with all of the pics
http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/indextotal.htm

[SwampDonkey]

Yes, that is a great site. I think someone posted a link to it last year as I remember browsing through it a year ago. Even some end grain of many samples, some a little closer and more focused than others, but still great pictures. I was looking at birch in particular, they had a sample of birch they were calling red birch. That is simply old growth yellow birch, I would assume since no latin name was posted for it and it looks like red or flaming birch we get in those old trees with the bark gone all platey. I was at a small circular mill one time a few years ago and they were sorting it out for figured market, not exactly figured, but it was a cherry look a like. Close encounters would reveal it wasn't cherry, but those logs were real pink on the sawed ends.