Another wood id request

[Russell Nugent]

Hey all.
Wondering what this may be. Central Alberta location. Backyard tree , probably not a native species but it sure knew how to grow, base was about 4 feet across. Sadly no leaves, home owner didn't know. Most of the tree was unusable because of ring shake but managed to get some decent size pieces. Wood is fairly soft, maybe like box elder, not as soft as poplar I've turned. Thanks for any ideas.

 

[David Gilbert]

I'll make a guess. Silver Maple?

 

[Richard Coers]

The bark reminds me of locust, but I think it is sweet gum.

 

[Brian Gustin]

I suspect David nailed it down - Silver Maple, it looks to me.

 

[Curt Fuller]

How about cottonwood? Does it have a barnyard smell?

 

[Richard Coers]

I suspect David nailed it down - Silver Maple, it looks to me.

In Illinois, silver maple has bark that is flaky and loose, small diameter of heartwood and a slight grey tint to the sapwood. First pic is sliver maple, second is sweet gum.

 

[Dwayne Watt]

GIven your location, indicated size of the tree, and the heavy knarly bark, I say cottonwood.

 

[Russell Nugent]

Definitely a barnyard smell! I just thought cottonwood was much plainer than that

 

[Dean Center]

That sure looks like Montana willow, to me.

 

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Willow in my book

 

[Sam Fleisher]

I was going to guess black locust until I read you say it's soft. Shine a black light on it to rule that out.

 

[Michael Anderson]

My guess is sweetgum as well. Has a distinctive smell, too. Like a tobacco barn.

 

[Norm Marentette]

willow

 

[Kevin Jesequel]

Sweet gum is fine grained and cuts cleanly. Willow is stringy and tends to fuzz up (like in your photo of the turned bowl on the lathe). I think cottonwood does the same, but haven’t turned it. I’ve turned numerous species with heart stain like this one. I don’t think that should be used to reliably identify the wood.

 

[Alan Weinberg]

Are any of the many plant/tree identification apps reliable enough to pinpoint the answer to these wood id questions?

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

Are any of the many plant/tree identification apps reliable enough to pinpoint the answer to these wood id questions?

They are spotty on identifying by bark alone. You usually need leaves to get an accurate ID. I use Picture This and PlantNet. Picture This is $30 a year. PlantNet is free. I use them both, often on the same tree to get the most accurate results.