Craigslist Grab and a bit of a weird find(ID please??)

So I went on a wood pick up from craigslist and looks like a small pile with decent rounds. Pine of some kind. I turn around and look at the branch pile and this was just trimmed off an entirely different tree. All pictured here is what I saw and did Not bring home.
This some kind of tree fungus??? You can see it only affects the branches at the top but not the trunk. Wood ID might help to find if its susceptible to something like that.


I apologize for the bad picture here. The branch im talking about just is in the middle of the picture going across it, not the tree in the background. Zoom in well! Went all the way up the branches.

 

This was before I dropped some branches arm width size off at a friends who doesn't own a trailer or a car for this sort of scrounge. Survey says it'll burn, 9-12 months. I figure keep the rounds since Ive got enough of those branches and twisted pieces so Im willing to share and deliver. You can see some have loads of sap. Walking down memory lane on this one, it didn't turn out well the first since it wasn't handled right.
Here's the final culled pile.

This was actually a fun one since my helper was talking to me in the car keeping me company like a radio. Too bad I didn't snap a pic!

 

Winged elm

 

Bam! Horkn I'm guessing this grows a lot around you?

 

I'm glad I didn't bring it home, looking at split elm is like seeing a bunch of wood with mouse nests.

 

Nope, not at all. Just a good student.

 

Elm is great wood to burn. Yes, it typically sucks to split. If you have hydraulics, it's not so bad.

 

Im reading that if you let it dry a couple months then cut it when its freezing then should pop and split clean.

 

Sure. Whatever works.

I cut most of mine dead standing and barkless. It is stringy. I've got a little different kind of elm, cut live, and it splits better than the dead standing American elm. The splitter splits almost everything, unless there's an elm crotch.

Stinky elm crotch. Lol

 

I took a round out to split it and smell. Now I know why they took down the tree, smells like dead rot. Fungus growing all over the middle. I couldnt smell a single bit of pine.

 

I doubt a lot of elm grows around here much. Maybe your typical nursery tree. Thats about it.

 

That's what happens when trees don't use protection when pollinating...

 

Yeah they get Stiffylis.

 

I respectfully disagree.

I believe it's a Sweet Gum. We have, and I've worked in, a lot of them around here.



Here is a description from LSU.

Louisiana Plant ID | Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)

 

No matter what ever it is burn it. Quick!

 

Im going to have to say now its inconclusive since there are two different species that have winged bark. I'm not crazy on WOOD ID but now that there are more of these kinds, I'm kind of interested and definitely a bit more educated! Now Im looking for the purpose of these "wings"...if there is any.

 

Honestly I thought some kind of fungus but now the wood I brought home seems too worse for wear.

 

Sweet gum would have shredded upon splitting. Also there would be spikey balls everywhere under the tree. Were there?

 

No balls as I could see.

 

I popped out side and looked at the small sweet gum beside the drive. There were still balls hanging in the tree even after all the wind we have had. Lack of them on the ground may not be conclusive if someone raked them up but the lack of any in the tree might be indicative.