What is it?

[Dana]

I need help identifying this piece of firewood and its leaves for a friend. The tree was located 10 miles south of  Mackinaw City, MI. The tree's grow mostly in clumps of 3 to 4 with 3 to 6 inch dbh. At least he thought so until he found some that were 50 foot tall. My first thought was Juneberry or Serviceberry, can they get that tall though?

  

  

  

  

[LeeB]

Elm?

[Dana]

No, it's not Elm the grain was too easy to split.

[WDH]

The leaves sure fit the Rose family which contains the cherries, pears, plums, and apples. 

[SwampDonkey]

Possibly downy serviceberry, Amelanchier arborea. They are a pretty big shrub, some people confuse the blossoms in the springtime for pin cherry from a  distance.

The leaves and trunk in your photos do look serviceberry like.

http://ontariotrees.com/main/species.php?id=2218

My uncle cut some large striped maple for kitchen stove wood. The grain of the wood looked just like any maple you would see. The bark was still on the pieces, but it was light like aspen. I cut some down with the brush saw that were about 8"-10" on the but. The saw couldn't cut through because of the size of the bigger one, but the holding wood broke off with a little shove. I don't like to cut them down, I think when they get that big they deserve to stand. ;)

[WDH]

Serviceberry is also in the Rose Family, so that could definitely be it.

[SwampDonkey]

If you recall beech buds, the serviceberry has a similar bud shape, but much smaller. I have seen a few good sized ones around farms.

[Ironwood]

Wood looks lke hickory, esp tight growth rings/ color and splittiing shown on edge of sample . Bark could just be looking funky in that sample. Are the twigs large at there terminus? In other words not a "fine" thin twig. Cant tell without twig and leaves to prove/disprove palmately compound structure.

Clumping, or grouping is also common. Is it beyond Hickory range? I have a buddy in Lakeside, Mich. who used to cut a TON of hickory for furniture.

Ironwood

[SwampDonkey]

Leaves are there in his 4th picture and serrated and not compound. Look to be some on twigs. This shrub would grow very slow and dense. Grows under canopy.

Here's one from the back yard. If I recall it's about 5 inches diameter. I can remember that one being there in my childhood. We used to play out there, it was a thick tangle of shrubs and trees taking over an old orchard.

[Dana]

One question on Serviceberry, can it get to the fifty foot height I mentioned? I have never seen it that tall or with a large dbh.

[SwampDonkey]

I know on good soil this otherwise "shrub" can be a "small tree".

Here's some photos Dana.

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

[Dana]

Thanks SD I feel pretty good about it being Juneberry after swing the photos in tour link.

[SwampDonkey]

Dana, you'd be surprised what some shrubs can yield. I knew an old fella that got a hold of a 6" staghorn sumac and made small boxes with it. It looked like butternut, but some green color to it. Even striped maple gets big enough to use and the grain looks like any maple you have seen, but light, like aspen when dry. I cut down some big ones this fall with a brush saw, one I had to shove over to break the holding wood in the middle.

[SwampDonkey]

Also, a lot of people aren't great at guessing heights. 35 feet is pretty tall when your under it looking up. 35 feet could be 50 feet to some. ;)

[bull]

could be a chestnut , maybe Chinese

[Geo.]

Service Berry/Juneberry (Amelanchier Arborea) can grow to 50 or even 60' tall in  western New york State and southern Michigan according to "A Natural History Of Trees" by Donald Culross Peattie.

[Brian Beauchamp]

The clumps you describe make it sound like it could be American Chestnut that is dying back to the stump and resprouting due to the blight.

[Okrafarmer]

The clumps you describe make it sound like it could be American Chestnut that is dying back to the stump and resprouting due to the blight.

Chestnut leaves would be longer. I thought elm at first, but the one leaf seems too symmetrical and the teeth weren't quite right.

[steve phillips]

howdy all
im here in va , we have a tree like that , leaf looks really like it
sawtooth oak , also called a chestnut oak around here

[SwampDonkey]

No visible rays, so you can eliminate the oaks. The leaf teeth are also too fine for chestnut or oak.

[Chuck White]

Kind of looks like what we call Shad Berry, right or wrong, that's what we called them.

They have berries on them in early Summer that look like Blue Berries, and taste somewhat similar.

Good eating, the wood is quite hard and here, they grow mostly along hedge rows!

[Dodgy Loner]

I'm late to the party on this one, but that's definitely a serviceberry/shadberry (Amelanchier arborea). The bark, leaves, and wood are all spot-on. I've seen them up to 70' tall in the North Georgia mountains, so a 50' specimen is not out of the ordinary.