I've got a tree I'm going to take down this fall and can't figure out what it is. It's probably 35' tall, 16" diameter. I think it might be a Black Gum. I'm hoping to get several good staves out of it.
Here's some pics. Ignore the ivy growing on it:
(http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad183/wclooper/IMG_0370.jpg) (http://s934.photobucket.com/user/wclooper/media/IMG_0370.jpg.html)
(http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad183/wclooper/IMG_0372.jpg) (http://s934.photobucket.com/user/wclooper/media/IMG_0372.jpg.html)
(http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad183/wclooper/IMG_0371.jpg) (http://s934.photobucket.com/user/wclooper/media/IMG_0371.jpg.html)
Persimmon
Yep
No, it's not persimmon. It has little blueish berries in the fall.
QuoteOriginally posted by non-typical:
Persimmon
Bark and leaves do look like it.
Does your tree bear fruit?
Yeah, small bluish/purple berries. It's definitely not a persimmon.
hhmmm
Ok-----Small Blue Berried Persimmon then....I'm never wrong, just ask my ex-wives :D
Probably is black gum then.
They both have similar bark and leaves.
When I get "stumpted" with tree identification I rely on the Audabon Tree book for my region, very helpful and fun to use when out scouting. Denny
Black gum(Nissa sylvatica)aka tupelo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyssa_sylvatica
By the above link, it looks like you have a match. Is Tupelo good for bow staves?
QuoteOriginally posted by non-typical:
Ok-----Small Blue Berried Persimmon then....I'm never wrong, just ask my ex-wives :D
I have heard of black gum bows but I wouldn't cut a black gum tree for bow wood. I would take a stave or two to try, though.
Sure looks like a black gum from the pics. A key feature in black gums is the limbs coming off the main trunk will almost all be at a 90 degree angle.
Might also want to check sourwood-bark is similar to persimmon. Flowers look like a line of bells hanging downward. Berries are small and purplish. Here's a video on IDing sour gum
http://video.about.com/forestry/How-to-Identify-a-Blackgum-Tree.htm.
Notice all the tiny limbs growing off the main limbs near the top of the tree. The berries grow in clusters.
Not sourwood. We have plenty of it here and I make some of my hunting arrows from sourwood shoots.
Good call on the 90 deg. limb angle, Matt. That is a good ID tool.
It's definitely a blackgum. A neighbor a couple of doors down is an arborist, and he confirmed it this morning. I'd leave it up, but I've got to take down a big pine a few feet away. With the way the pine will need to fall, It'll likely fall into the black gum.
If you plan on using it for firewood get a hydraulic splitter. Black gum has interlocking fibers and is a bear to split.
QuoteOriginally posted by looper:
[QB] It's definitely a blackgum. A neighbor a couple of doors down is an arborist, and he confirmed it this morning.
Hmmm, that explains why my persimmon trees don't ever produce any persimmons! :biglaugh:
I have a couple large black gum / tupelo trees...they are great for hanging a rope swing from.
Tall Paul,
I think there are male and female persimmon trees, you have to have both in the area or you get squat!!!
How do you go about determining the sex of a tree???
By the flower.
Do the leaves go bright red in the fall?
Yes. Black gum leaves turn bright red in the fall.