Tree identification help
July 13, 2011 11:16 AM Subscribe
Please help me identify this tree from the leaves and the wood.
I've collected some wood from a recently downed tree in Chicago. All I've got to go by is what's in the photos--a few leaves and two logs. I've tried various dichotomous keys online, but no luck. Is it lobed or unlobed? Three leaves come of a twig with a bud at their base. The leaves are about 2-1/2" from tip to base. The four leaves I have are all similar. Coarse bark, reddish-orange heartwood, yellow/cream-colored sapwood.
I've collected some wood from a recently downed tree in Chicago. All I've got to go by is what's in the photos--a few leaves and two logs. I've tried various dichotomous keys online, but no luck. Is it lobed or unlobed? Three leaves come of a twig with a bud at their base. The leaves are about 2-1/2" from tip to base. The four leaves I have are all similar. Coarse bark, reddish-orange heartwood, yellow/cream-colored sapwood.
yeah, beech or maybe sycamore?
posted by bartonlong at 11:38 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by bartonlong at 11:38 AM on July 13, 2011
Based on this tree identifier, I was thinking it looked like some sort of alder. Some of those leaves look exactly like it, but the bark throws me off. Maybe an aspen?
posted by Madamina at 11:42 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by Madamina at 11:42 AM on July 13, 2011
Best answer: Have we named every tree yet? I think it looks like a Hawthorn, probably either a Waxyfruit or a Scarlet. This is a Scarlet leaf and a twig (click to enlarge). This is the bark. It might help if you describe the texture of the leaf....smooth, hairy, waxy, etc.
posted by iconomy at 11:54 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by iconomy at 11:54 AM on July 13, 2011
Like freezer cake, I was going to suggest a mulberry of some sort. The wood colors and toothed edges of the leaves are consistent with mulberry.
posted by jon1270 at 11:54 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by jon1270 at 11:54 AM on July 13, 2011
I'll vote for European mountain ash, which does appear to get planted in Chicago.
posted by halogen at 11:58 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by halogen at 11:58 AM on July 13, 2011
No, nevermind, just looked closer at the base of the leaf you posted; it's not an ash.
posted by halogen at 11:59 AM on July 13, 2011
posted by halogen at 11:59 AM on July 13, 2011
Response by poster: The leaves are fine and papery, definitely not waxy. I thought mulberry too, but I don't feel the sandpaper-like surface of the top side of the leaf or the fine hairs underneath. There's a mulberry in my gangway; I'll compare leaves tonight.
posted by hydrophonic at 12:05 PM on July 13, 2011
posted by hydrophonic at 12:05 PM on July 13, 2011
There's a mulberry in my gangway; I'll compare leaves tonight.
Mulberry leaves can vary quite a lot in general shape. I've got a yellow mulberry in my yard that produces leaves you might not guess came from the same tree.
Iconomy's suggestion looks pretty good.
posted by jon1270 at 12:19 PM on July 13, 2011
Mulberry leaves can vary quite a lot in general shape. I've got a yellow mulberry in my yard that produces leaves you might not guess came from the same tree.
Iconomy's suggestion looks pretty good.
posted by jon1270 at 12:19 PM on July 13, 2011
river birch bark peels off. Though the leaves look right for river birch, the trunk and bark do not.
posted by k5.user at 12:25 PM on July 13, 2011
posted by k5.user at 12:25 PM on July 13, 2011
Bark is all wrong for beech, which has a very smooth, genrly nubbled bark. Not completely sold on river birch, seems a little too chunky for river birch, although it's a maybe; really mature river birches have very different bark than young ones. Also pretty sure that's not sycamore bark. Mulberry seems like the best fit of the ones above, but I'm not identifying here; just crossing things off the list. Go to google, select images, and type in "[tree type] bark". You'll get some surprisingly good pictures of bark. Maybe you could hone in on the leaves that way too.
posted by Ys at 12:44 PM on July 13, 2011
posted by Ys at 12:44 PM on July 13, 2011
Best answer: I'm in the hawthorn camp with iconomy and jon1270, but damned if I can figure out which.
posted by steef at 1:14 PM on July 13, 2011
posted by steef at 1:14 PM on July 13, 2011
Best answer: My SO wants to say:
It's definitely not beech, sycamore, or mulberry. It does look like it could be a hawthorn, maybe Washington hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum.)
posted by DarkForest at 7:04 PM on July 13, 2011
It's definitely not beech, sycamore, or mulberry. It does look like it could be a hawthorn, maybe Washington hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum.)
posted by DarkForest at 7:04 PM on July 13, 2011
I may be off here, but it sure looks a lot like the cottonwoods outside by window here in Texas. I don't know if they even grow where you are though.
posted by txmon at 8:13 AM on July 14, 2011
posted by txmon at 8:13 AM on July 14, 2011
Response by poster: On my way home yesterday I stopped again at the place where I got the wood. I'd thought there were only the dozen stumps I saw earlier but I was happy to find one tree still standing. I got a better sample of the leaves, including a fruit. Definitely not mulberry. I'm going with hawthorn. It'd be nice to know the exact type but it won't kill me.
Thanks everybody! If this thread is still open when I turn the wood into bowls, I'll post some pics.
posted by hydrophonic at 9:12 AM on July 14, 2011
Thanks everybody! If this thread is still open when I turn the wood into bowls, I'll post some pics.
posted by hydrophonic at 9:12 AM on July 14, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 11:28 AM on July 13, 2011 [1 favorite]