It's kinda like Christmas day when I find a new species that I have long looked for around here. First was black locust a few years back. A few small ones found. Now, it is ash. I think I have found three, so far, on my hardwood woodlot. Yippee! If it's ash, lol. Let me ask... do you find that woodpeckers have pecked on the ash down at eye level? These are live, seemingly, totally healthy, mature trees. Probably 16" or so DBH. Every one of these has the pecker holes and I don't see that often deep into a tract. Hope they're not pecking at the borer bugs! I spotted the first one yesterday because I was on my trails late in the day and the sun was hitting the tree crowns just right, illuminating the newly hatched leaves of the trees and I was assessing the trees and these looked different from the other tall trees -- oaks, hickory, sweetgum. I looked closer and noticed that it might be ash! Got binoculars and it sure looks like it to me. The first one, I have passed hundreds of times, it is right on the trail but I just thought it was a sweetgum 'cause I have lots of those and the bark very much resembles sweetgum. FWIW, I find that sweetgum has the most varied bark texture of any tree, it can look like lots of trees! Today, if I can get decent pics, will post if I can figure that out! A logger friend mentioned to my brother the other day something about them finding some ash trees in their logging and he lit up and inquired if he could buy some. They bought a $40k mill to augment their logging because they come across trees that warrant milling and higher profit. The logger had said something about the ash being no good, making that assumption because he said it is lightweight but my bro said no, it makes excellent wood for various items. (They are primarily loggers of pine, prolific down here.) I know they use ash in various things. Baseball bats? Guitars. My bro wants some to make tool handles and other things. I will have to keep my eyes peeled to see if woodpeckers are common on other trees at eye level. I mostly see them pecking up higher. If ash, I don't know if it's green or white but I tend to think green; maps show this area is native for both species. And there are other species. When I was young, my dad leased a place that was loaded with ash but I know it got logged. I would like to get permission to go back there and see if any are left. I did get a blowdown yard tree in my town that I took for firewood, the lady wanted it gone and it did burn really well.
That's how it goes around here, the EAB borers hit it, then the woodpeckers move in n ventilate that sucker! Never noticed the eye level thing though...
I made a kitchen table from ash I milled. It is extremely hard wood. Once finished you would have a hard time determining what species it is.
Ash works well for tool handles. Could be used anywhere Oak or Hard Maple is normally used. Very hard and sturdy when dry. Sent from my SM-S536DL using Tapatalk
Got pics of whatever it is. These two trees are tall, 70 to 80 ft at least. If anyone knows, advise! EDIT: I note that the leaves are not opposite one another on a shoot, I forget what that is called. EDIT 2: Hmmm... a fact sheet and drawing of the leaves for green ash shows the leaves are opposite each other on a stem. Which would mean this is not green ash! What the heck! I also see that white ash has the same leaf pattern as green ash, so, it's not white ash! Dang, now what! (I've looked at a bunch of drawings and photos of leaf patterns and have not found this tree! I suppose this would be called alternate compound leaf pattern.) Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
I've got ash coming out my ears.... Darn EAB's. Lost/losing most of the mature trees on my property except a couple lucky oaks that survived the gypsy moths and a few sugar maples.
Thanks, Brad. I do not vote for blue ash, as, again, this tree has leaves that are not 'opposite' one another, they are 'alternate.' This link (https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/plants-trees/broad-leaf-trees/Blue-Ash-Fraxinus-quadrangulata) says blue ash has an opposite pattern. I spent hours last night scouring the internet and looked at hundreds of photos and drawings, looking for a hardwood tree with compound, alternate leaf pattern and am coming up empty, this is weird! I will try to get a better photo. Might try to throw a line around a branch to see if I can snag a leafy branch but these limbs are way high. I do have a throw line meant just for throwing over limbs. Wonder if the line is long enough, lol! The last pic, above, center left, is a good example of the alternating leaf pattern.
Bark looks correct for blue ash. The first leaf pictures are a bit difficult to tell but the second leaf pictures look like blue ash. They're the only living ash left on my property.
Reminds me of walnut but they have opposite leaves. Maybe an elm? The leaves in your pictures don't look very serrated. You think those leaves are full size already? I see your in LA.
Jeffrey, no, I do not think the leaves are full size, it seems to be early in the tree's springtime foliage production. And, you are right, the leaves do not look very serrated like elm. MikeInMa, I have seen some pics/drawings of black locust leaves and, yes, this thought also entered my mind, especially since I have had NO luck in finding ANY photo/drawing of this type of leaf pattern. But this tree's compound leaf pattern seems to be 7-9 leaves in each compound stem AND, as you say, the bark doesn't look like locust. A couple of times, I have thought I was onto something when viewing hickory/walnut images. But those seem to be opposite leaf patterns, not alternate. I really need to snag some leaves somehow, will try today. EDIT: As of this moment, I am wondering about elm. The bark certainly looks like elm. Also, elms around here often have nice, straight trunks like this. It's possible that when an elm tree's leaves come out, they look like this. I will have a look at other elms.
MEA CULPA. I am 99% sure it is simply elm! Feel like a dunce. The bark is exactly like elm around here. The leaves are what threw me, I guess I have never seen an elm with leaves just coming out and the first limb is, like, 60 ft high, lol. It's a bit of an optical illusion how the young leaves look on this tree. I went to an elm in my yard and based on it am making this conclusion. This yard tree also has the woodpecker holes like the subject tree. Sorry! I so wanted ash and even more so, seemingly robustly healthy ash!
I was.thinking elm based on the bark and base. Got any pictures of the tree structure is it a V shape?
