Magnolia, maybe?

[woodbeard]

Picked up a couple of these logs this morning, from the log yard, cause they looked interesting. They seemed to think they were basswood, but the heartwood was a darker, olive color, like some older strains of poplar I have seen. The bark, however is very different from ( tulip ) poplar, with a reddish brown fibrous layer under narrow flat grey/brown plates.
Is this Southern magnolia ( Grandiflora )  ???

With a known tulip poplar log, for comparison:

And, what was lurking inside:

These logs were 20"and 21" diameter, probably 2nd and 3rd cuts of the tree, I missed out on the butt.

[Raider Bill]

I've got a southren MAgnolia blooming in my back yard, this doens't look like the bark at all.

[woodbeard]

Yeah, there seem to be a few varieties. Is yours the one with the smooth grey bark, kinda like beech?

[Tom]

Magnolia, Grandifora and Sweet Bay both, have a very noticeable wavy grain when flat sawed.  Looking at the center of the board in your picture, I don't think it is even close.  Magnolia sap wood is more of a cream color than green and it takes quite a bit of time for the heart wood to develop.  The heartwood is very dark brown and usually will have mineral streaks in it.  If this were magnolia, it would be very unusual for a log of this apparent age to have this much heart.

I'd lean toward Poplar.

[WDH]

HA!  You are on the something Woodbeard.  Ya got good instincts.  Next thing you know, you will be talking to trees like Tcsmpsi does......

I bet what you have there is cucumber tree, Magnolia acuminata.  The bark looks like that in the pic.  With that green heartwood, I bet that is what it is.  Cucumber tree is a first cousin of yellow poplar (both are in the Magnolia family).  In TN, especially the piedmont, foothills and the mountains, you will find a lot of cucumber tree. 

One other thing to look at.......If you look at a cross-section of a board, are the growth ring boundaries (that last line of cells between the annual rings) very very distinct, as if someone drew them on with the right colored pencil?  That last line of cells are called marginal parenchyma (pardon the technical term), and in the all the Magnolia family, including yellow poplar, each growth rings ends in a very distinct band of marginal parenchyma (in Magnolia grandiflora, many times there are two distinct lines of marginal parenchyma at the end of the growth ring.  That is one way to ID magnolia lumber).

If we had a twig, bud, and leaf, we could 100% positive, but you probably only have the logs, right?

[woodbeard]

Yep, just the logs. Based on Tom's description, we'll rule out Grandiflora, and sweetbay. I've seen a lot of variation in bark and wood in yellow poplar, but this bark is very different. I've only seen pictures of cucumber tree bark, so it's hard for me to compare it, but I have a feeling that's what it may be. The color of the wood has faded quite a bit in the past couple hours, as well.

[metalspinner]

   I may have cut some poplar 2 x 4's out of a cucumber tree recently.

[flip]

Looks like the cuc. magnolia I cut up a year ago.  Of course mine had almost no bark on it when we go to it.

[WDH]

I don't see anything wrong in cutting some poplar 2 x 4's from cucumber trees.  You sure don't want any old maid 2 x 4's from cucumber tree.  Better to be poplar rather than a wall-flower don't ya think ??? : ;D

[Ron Wenrich]

I'm thinking that cucumber is sold with tulip poplar.  That's sure what the bark looks like.  Pretty rare in these parts.

[Tom]

If it bears the same grain configuration as Grandiflora or sweet bay, flat saw it.   The boards will have designs that look like topographical maps and make grand panels for cabinetry.

Something else I've noticed too.  I don't know if it has to do with the parenchyma cells WDH describes or not, but flat-sawed magnolia will  usually have a fairly distinct purple color edging the growth rings.  I guess it is there on vertical grain also, just harder to see.   The color will disappear soon with the oxidation of the surface of the board and its drying.

[theorm]

I'm thinking that cucumber is sold with tulip poplar.  That's sure what the bark looks like.  Pretty rare in these parts.

Cucumber?  I must have blinked and missed something. I thought cucumbers grew on vines.

Theo

[isawlogs]

 Wood .. food .... Only one letter between the two , many times here they are confused .  :P

[WDH]

To see the marginal parenchyma at the end of the growth ring, you have to slice the end grain with a razor to get a very smooth cut like Swamp Donkey describes in the thread on "Identifying Wood From the End Grain" post in the Tree and Plant ID section of the forum.  It is clearly visible with the naked (versus the clothed eye) once you get a smooth cut.  I believe the wood would be almost if not completely indistinguishable from yellow poplar.

[woodbeard]

Thanks all! The comments on the bark, especially, since that's what was really puzzling me. The wood looks and cuts a lot like poplar. The color and grain are similar, but more washed out, and hazy looking. I believe what I have here is cucumber tree. Got any thousand island dressing?
Marcel, after a hearty bowl of soup, you can call me "Foodbeard"  ;D