I saw some nice BL along the creeper trail in Damascus Va. An old logging railway was turned into a bike trail. Big Sassafras
Yup, typical locations for BL. Getting lots of sun in that pic. Cant say ive ever seen one growing in the woods. Couple spots close by here where they are roadside in heavier woods and choked from sun, they die off on the smaller side. The sassy is cool with the "tentacle" limbs.
Mystree reminiscent of shagbark hickory, although the bark itself doesnt look quite right. My brother has hiked the AT about halfway from Maine South. Some nice country and very peaceful
My friends were thinking red maple. Buds look similar, but I’ve never seen curling scales. Could it be silver maple in the wild?
I’ve seen red maple bark do that on the most ancient trees. Silver likes sandy riverbanks and low flood plains in the wild. I’ll lean towards red maple.
Here is a pic for you. They finished clear cutting the area in 1930, so I guess they could be 90ish year old red maple.
SBH: I've sawed lots of it! Burns hot as he11. It's the one wood dad warned me about. He warped the grates on his coal/wood and oil furnace with it when I was a pup.
I would say swamp white oak if it was in my area. Sometimes can be mistaken for shagbark hickory. Quercus bicolor (Black Oak, Oaks, Swamp White Oak) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
I want it to be Shagbark. There are big ones all along the trail. Hickories have big apical buds. This tree doesn’t. Either way the place is loaded with locust and big mystrees. A lot of the clear cut got turned into Christmas tree farms. Christmas tree farms around every bend with lots of inventory.
