Recognize this tree species

[Tom Cadwalader]

This tree seems mature but not very large. It's in a clump of trees that grew together.
I have been asked to cut it down Saturday.
It' s growing in a yard in Akron, Ohio.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[stu senator]

Birch?

Stu

 

[Robert Taylor]

tree id

definitely Birch

 

[Tom Cadwalader]

Yes I think it's a birch

I think it is a birch, hoping for a yellow birch. But the bark on younger growth is not vey scaly, like a paper birch. So not sure and in the pictures I can't really tell if the leaves are opposite each other or not. So I am having a difficult time figuring it out from a couple of hundred miles away. I'll get a good look at it tomorrow afternoon.

Robert is that referencing an App ?

 

[hockenbery]

Might be quaking aspen.

We had a few in Maryland.

Birch in Maryland have serrated leaves more narrow than the aspen.

 

[John Torchick]

Take several close-up pictures and a branch with a cluster of leaves to a local college or university. A botany professor should be able to tell what it is. Or....take it to a tree service.

 

[Brent Wells]

I would have to guess paper birch. They are very common in akron especially west akron towards Montrose/ Fairlawn area. This area was once the lawn of F a sieberling who started Goodyear tire and rubber and he owned most of the county at the turn of the century before he started donating the land and selling it off. Paper birch was on of his favorite trees and he has a couple paper birch alleys that are still at his former home , Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens. he had many paper birch planted in this area. Also if you are in akron check out Swensons hamburgers you won't be disappointed.

 

[Tom Cadwalader]

Akron & Aspen

Brent, thanks for the tip. But been there done that. I have been to Stan Hewitt and Swensons, and your right. Both are go to spots.
We have paper birch and quaking aspen in our yard in Northern Michigan. So once I get there and see the tree I should recognize it if either of those two.
The tree is in my step-daughters yard and my wife is there now. I am in Northeastern Pa and heading to Akron in the morning.

 

[Bill Boehme]

The pictures aren't clear enough for the leaves to make a guess. There ard lots of questions in identifying trees that you can answer much more easily if you go to the tree identification page here on the National Arbor Day Foundation. You can also try this site. Here is an app that you can put on an iPad or cell phone.

 

[robo hippy]

My first thought was cherry, but after reading the birch comments, that could be right. It just didn't look white enough for what I am used to, but it is in the shade. Not sure about the leaves though, they didn't appear to be what I am used to for birch around here, which we don't have much of.

robo hippy

 

[Andy Chen]

Might be quaking aspen.

We had a few in Maryland.

Birch in Maryland have serrated leaves more narrow than the aspen.

The leaves are not like aspen's. I vote for birch.

 

[Kevin Wood]

My guess would be birch...probably yellow birch. Here in Georgia I know of 4 kinds of birch's.....

paper birch - which I think is more common planted around office building
River birch -
Yellow Birch - more common around 3000' and above (range extends down into NE Georgia mountains)
Sweet Birch - from 2500' and up. If you cut a piece of the bark, it will have a minty / menthol smell (range extends down into NE Georgia mountains)

I found a down tree while turkey hunting a couple years ago.....being a woodturner/wood scavenger I could not help myself so I brought it home with me. There were no leaves on it and my guess was sometype of birch. While turning it had a very minty smell which I googled and found it to be sweet birch. This past spring while turkey hunting I was looking at a tree that was standing and was curious if it was sweet birch. I took my knife and scraped a small piece of the bark and low and behold....that fragrant minty smell. I think sweet birch was once used as imitation mahogany and also used to make mint tea. My tree book I just found said the following in regards to sweet birch for those just curious tidbit of useful/useless knowledge

"birch oil or oil of wintergreen, used to flavor medicines and candy. The trees can be tapped like sugar maples in early spring and the fermented sap made into birch beer."

 

[Bill Boehme]

The leaves are not like aspen's. I vote for birch.

I agree. It's definitely not aspen. Photographing aspen in the fall was something that I did for a number of years when going backpacking in the Gila Wilderness. Neither the bark nor the leaves match aspen. From what I can tell, aspen always comes with heart shapes on the trunk and what looks like initials on the inside like this:



It is an amazing natural phenomenon.

 

[Tom Cadwalader]

Update: Iam going to need a bigger saw

I was expecting to cut an overgrown bush. But the base where all of the trees grafted themselves together is too big for the small saw I brought. Next trip here I will have to bring the big saw and my truck. I want the base.
I am no closer to an identification. I have been through several I'd apps and nothing has been a positive match. But I do have some more clues to look for. To make it worse the leaves on one side are different than the leave on the opposite side. Though the wood looks the same when you cut it. The wood is very interesting. The heart wood is almost orange and the sap wood is a light yellow. Though the color fades quickly once exposed. I don't detect any particular aroma. I'll take my camera out this morning and get some better pictures. The pics included here were taken with an iPad.

 

[Tom Cadwalader]

Bingo

I thing I know what it is. After working with it and checking extensively on the online help sites the best fit in a buckthorn. Even the wood color matches. What looked like just dead broken small branches are thorns. Once I started cutting I could see that the thorns were indeed repeating consistently. They are pretty sharp also, and about 3 inches long.
I am anxious to get a piece home to my shop and give it a spin. May do something green and see what I can do with it.
If anyone on here has any experience with it I would love to hear about it. I think the trunk where the group of trees all grew together will be the most interesting wood figure. But have have a lot of inclusions.
Still need to go take some pictures later.
Thanks for all of the suggestions some of the links were very helpful and I now have a few I'd apps on my iPad and phone.

 

[Tony Rozendaal]

I agree, as soon as I saw the pictures in the first post I thought it was buckthorn. It is considered an invasive species pretty much everywhere. I have turned a fair amount of it - it is very dense and can have some nice figure and chatoyance. I've done more natural edge pieces with it than anything else.

 

[Bill Boehme]

.... I think the trunk where the group of trees all grew together will be the most interesting wood figure. But have have a lot of inclusions.

I think that it is worth mentioning from a safety perspective that trees that grow together are not really grown together although that might appear to be the case. At best, they may eventually join at the cambium and then future growth would be joined, but older wood can't join other older wood.

 

[Tom Cadwalader]

Safety

Thanks Bill. I will be cautious about spinning this trunk once I get it cut. I see what you mean about not really growing together. There were a few 4 inch diameter pieces coming out from the stump and once I cut in about 4 inches it pulled right away from the rest of the tree(s). It wasn't joined very much at all.

 

[John Volcko]

It might be buckthorn

 

[Gretch Flo]

[/COLOR]"birch oil or oil of wintergreen, used to flavor medicines and candy. The trees can be tapped like sugar maples in early spring and the fermented sap made into birch beer."

MY river birch (20" diameter or so at base) got severely injured in an ice storm. The top 3 branches were broke and hinged. This spring we had a bad freeze and the next day I saw a large frozen mess that was dripping. I tasted it and was sugery!!!! Probably could have sugared that tree!! Gretch