Walnut Cracks

[Dave Fritz]

This is a piece of walnut that came from either the stump or the root of a walnut tree that was blown down in a tornado.


This is the stump and the rest of the tree it came from


I've not seen this pattern of cracking before. Has anyone seen it and what may have been the cause of something like this? Thank you for your responses.

 

[William Rogers]

I don’t know, but may have been a lightening strike somewhere on the tree. I had some walnut that had lines similar but more irregular shaped. I was doing a hollow form and it came apart on me.

 

[Richard Coers]

A tornado tree goes through one hell of a twist. No surprise the wood is full of cracks. A lightning tree usually starts with one big crack from the path of the bolt, but often just falls apart as it dries since the lignin boils from the lightning energy.