What type of wood is this? Thanks.
–Thoreau’s Walden
What type of wood is this? Thanks.
The Portascanner uses ultrasonic technology to isolate the smallest air leaks, making it easier to air-seal an enclosure.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial NowDig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now© 2025 Active Interest Media. All rights reserved.
Fine Homebuilding receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Get home building tips, offers, and expert advice in your inbox
Become a member and get instant access to thousands of videos, how-tos, tool reviews, and design features.
Start Your Free TrialGet complete site access to expert advice, how-to videos, Code Check, and more, plus the print magazine.
Already a member? Log in
Replies
My guess wood be Red Alder.
I can't see the pore structure very clearly, but it looks like cherry to me. assuming diffuse porous structure. If it is ring porous there are plenty of mahoganies or mahogany substitutes that could look like that.
ok, need to get some closer shots then.
Thanks all.When I called to see it he was not at home. I walked about the outside, at first unobserved from within, the window was so deep and high. It was of small dimensions, with a peaked cottage roof, and not much else to be seen, the dirt being raised five feet all around as if it were a compost heap. -Thoreau's Walden
My guesses were alder or cherry, but as Steve mentions if there are pores it could be mahogany. Is it soft or hard?
How hard?
How brittle?
Let me smell some sawdust!
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Didn't really have much of an odor when I cut an end to show the end grain. Faint.
Pretty heavy for a 2 1/8" x 7 3/8" 7 ft length so I'm guessing hardwood.
Couple more pics and the camera won't let me get any closer. View Image The roof was the soundest part, though a good deal warped and made brittle by the sun. -Thoreau's Walden
any chance it might be lyptus?
I've never really seen it with so pronounced cathedrals in the grain but the color is close, as far as I can tell from the picture anyway.
looks like Brazilian cherry (Jo-Joba) to me. If it were american black cherry you would probably see pitch pockets. If not Jo-Joba, I'd surmise some kind of faux mahogany (tropical species).
Roger <><
It is not Jatoba (pronounced that way too) not dark enough. I think Lyptus is a good posibility.
Jatoba jumped out at me, too.
Forrest
Thanks all. Don't know where I got it from as I found it in one of my sheds and didn't know anything about it. Maybe an auction from way back when.
More stuff might be coming seeing I'll be clearing out the sheds as a lot of new homes are being built in the area and I have to make sure I'm not the worst house in the neighborhood.
So now I'm on a new quality control kick. I'll try to keep you guys entertained.snorK*
be hiding in the northfortyDoorsill there was none, but a perennial passage for the hens under the door board. Mrs. C. came to the door and asked me to view it from the inside. The hens were driven in by my approach. It was dark, and had a dirt floor for the most part, dank, clammy, and aguish, only here a board and there a board which would not bear removal. -Thoreau's Walden
I think it might be chestnut, especially if it's an old board. The Cherry/poplar/fruitwood grain makes me think it's domestic.
Lyptus is a newer hybrid so probably not that.
Also looks like Khaya (African Mahogany) or Spanish cedar or any of the other mahogany-like woods but it would have a caramel smell when you cut it. Maybe not if it's really old.
Those growth rings are awfully big for Cherry ..
Not Chestnut. That was ring porous, and almost all of it is tannin stained when you do find it.
I am thinking towards Poplar or Cherry. Butthe pics don't really tell enough, cuz Cherry would be fairly dark w/oxidation if old, and Pop can be anything from Purple/Green to Brown when oxidized.
So, Alder is good candidate, as well as a Mahagony sub species.Parolee # 40835
Looks like Spanish cedar too - although 'no odor on cut' would rule that out.
Jeff
W2 and w3 make me certain that it's cherry.George Patterson
The W2 pic sure looks like Aluminum. Yeah, the one on the right sure looks like a board from the EZ Guide tree. I've got one just like it. The rest of you are crazy. I don't know what that reddish thing to the left is though.
Upon further consideration...I have deduced, it truly and honestly, is Mulberry. With a better than average chance of it being Ky. Coffee Tree as a close second.
I know I've seen it before, just had to sleep/think about it.
edit to add: BOTH are indigenous to your locale.
Parolee # 40835
Edited 6/2/2007 7:29 am ET by Sphere
this reply is a bumpwith the intended purpose of keeping your discussion current so maybe somebody theat actually KNOWS something will come along and helpof course it wont be me!!:)I wish I knew how to insert an annoying Martha Stewart Banner in my tagline....
<Upon further consideration...I have deduced, it truly and honestly, is Mulberry. With a better than average chance of it being Ky. Coffee Tree as a close second.I know I've seen it before, just had to sleep/think about it.>You gotta show me a mulberry tree that anyone could get a board like that outta. It's the most crookedy stuff in the woods<G> Besides, it get's very brown as it oxidizes, and it's got tighter rings, and it has light rings surrounding the dark rings, and I'm sitting here looking at mulberry bowl a friend turned from a tree I cut off this place...it ain't mulberry.And as far as Kentucky coffee, I don't know, but it's nothing like NC coffee, ours is way pithier than rez's pics.Jeeze Loueeze, ya made me go get the camera. Here's a churry bowl I forked up, and afore mentioned mulberry vessel.Hey, did you get your lathe up?...guess I'm not gonna see that gouge you were bragging about, ha <G> I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Don't ya love the tease? I am such a dumazz.... I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Your Mulberry LOOKS more like Locust or OSage Orange .
There are red and Black Mulberries here, on my prop. One Black one is about 16" diameter, and easily would get a board that size or 2,3,4 of them. Growing conditions dictate the rings, full sun, lots o' water..or shade, drought. Minerals in the soil/water dictate somewhat to color and even density. Ever see black POPLAR? that is soil related. I mean old heartwood, not sap wood, natch.
Iam keeping a watch out KY Coffee tree lumber, I have a few, but doan wanna be cuttin them down.
No lathe yet, I put off gettin a new one waiting on Doug to ship.
One of these days.Parolee # 40835
Your Mulberry LOOKS more like Locust or OSage Orange .
Not a coincidence that it looks like Osage...they're related, as I recall.
Nice stuff, actually. Tough as nails, like the aforementioned hedge.
Jason
BTW..Nice bowls! Yer getting me itchin for spinning again.Parolee # 40835
Do Kentucky mulberries grow straight for 7'? We've got wanky ones...and are they red or black according to the berries? I've only seen black berries...so that pic is one of them.Do you have Mimosa trees there? Trash trees here, but the hummingbirds love their pink sweet, flowers. A neighbor cut down the biggest one I've ever seen and gave me some chunks...very characterful...I call this one Cyclops<G>I turn worse than I type... I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Jeeze, I turn worse than I attach pic... I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
no, maybe I do attach pics worse than I turn!rez is still sittin' on a chunk of cherry<G> I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
I see a few BigMulberry trees around here, depends on where they are growin. Like I said, we have a huge nice straight one.
Yeah, I know, all the berries start out as red, and most get black/purple, but some stay reddish and get just as tasty. I love um. We even have one that never really gets red, it stays pinkish white all summer, till the birds eat em up.
I'll try to get some pics when the sun comes back.
Yup, Mimosa too. I don't think much of them , they are messier than Black Walnut trees. The wood is pretty but weak and rots easy. Not really exciting for much other than turning I guess.
I got hooked on Pawlonia or Princess Tree, and Catalpa when I was making Guitars...man that is some light , strong and down right nice wood to play with...it has good acoustics, planes and finishes like buttah...and I 've heard is fire resistant, I KNOW it sucks for fire wood. LOL
Without actually touching , smelling, weighing, tapping, licking what Rez has, I can't verify 100% that it is anything..but Cherry was my very first gut feeling.Parolee # 40835
Ya know, now that I think about it, I've seen white mulberries...hmmm, wonder if David Duke had anything to with them?<G> I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
LOL..ya, the ones w/ the little pointy white hoods? I know they are as bad as Poke when it comes to bird poop. (G) The exlax of avian empires.Parolee # 40835
just like the far side cartoon with the big bull's eye on the car roof...hey, where is rez when ya really need him?<G> I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Mullbery it aint.You would think that mulberry would have a nice red wood. It don't.Actually it is a pale golden yellow..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
<Actually it is a pale golden yellow.>Bill, did you see the pic I posted? Only the mulberry sapwood turns yellow. Heartwood gets a deep, rich brown. Someone's got it in for me, they're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out but when they will I can only guess.
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy,
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me.
I can't help it if I'm lucky.
What I had was a small limb so it was mostly sapwood.But I saw some at a lumber dealer looked the same. It was bigger board, but I don't remember how big..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Thanks all. I should have remembered what grove I cut that out of.
CheersI to pay four dollars and twenty-five cents tonight, he to vacate at five tomorrow morning, selling to nobody else meanwhile: I to take possession at six. It were well, he said, to be there early, and anticipate certain indistinct but wholly unjust claims on the score of ground rent and fuel. This he assured me was the only encumbrance. -Thoreau's Walden
Fresh planer shavings of cherry smell like coconut. Alder doesn't.
Those are bridge timbers or RR ties.
It ain't Osage Orange (Bois'd'Arc).
Still think it's Red Oak. Red Oak has a lot of tanin and reacts with ammonia. Sand a spot on the beam, pour some household ammonia in a dish, put it next to the sanded spot, cover with plastic, leave over night. If you come back in the morning and it's a deep brown, it's oak.
Tom..no freaking way is it any oak..it does show to be Diffuse pourus at the best,,there is no sign of tyloses in the face or end grain, and no water straw endgrain, common on Quercus Rubus from the NE of the US.
Even if we were guessin at Quercus Albus ( white oak) the tyloses would be shown in the medulary ray patterns on the face and end grain. White Oak has closed rays, that is why it is a Cooperage commodity, and red oak is not.
Red oak will leak when casketed, white won't.
Now to be clear, there are hundreds of OAKS out there, Live oak as you know, still loses it leaves, but at a differing rate as the true quercus deciduous northern neighbors.
Not that I have been a wood worker and dendrochronologist in my past or nuthin. Luthier, PipeOrgan builder,and furniture maker,,,Lemme show ya some Vermont Sugar Pine, or PA Hemlock, or Sitka Spruce..same attributes, but suited for many tasks in particular. Yet all are Coniferous, so one could draw a conclusion tha they are all the same.
White pine is classed as Pinus Strobis, Eastern Hemlock, is Tsugis Pennsylvanicus...look, I aint googlin and lookin this up..so my latin may be lacking..but, I know my wood (G).
I said, lick the dam plank, feel the heft, shave it with a Swiss Army knife, tap tone it.."I can maim that wood in 30 seconds, Dick".
Good Ideer for the festers eh? LOL.Parolee # 40835
Did you know you can ask the government for free? - http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/techline/wood-identification--90-years-of-service.pdf
If you send a sample they'll ID it and respond - I've done it before.
Jeff
Red Oak. Got a bunch in the shop right now.
Looks like Butternut from here.
The first picture showing the contrast between sap and heartwood looks exactly like the pile of cherry boards I have in my basement.
99.9% sure it's cherry. If it's been sitting around in your shed for a while, not much chance it will be an exotic or something like lyptus, which is a 'new' species for the US market.
Too close grained and too red for butternut. Butternut is also very lightweight when dry. Possibly alder but not with the deep red in the first photo. Chestnut is brown, more chocolate tinged than red.
i see a lot of cherry in my area and i'd have to disagree (without knowing what it is for sure) with you. i've neverseen growth rings that consistently large on a cherry tree. seeing first pic i was sure it was cherry, but after seeing the end grain i'm befuddled..
With the right conditions, cherry grows rather fast. However, I can't say I've seen growth rings that big on cherry before either.
could be cherry, i've just never seen growth like that before.
maybe it's locust??
No way is it locust! That is more like ash/oak grain
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
that was more of a joke than anything, i've never actually seen locust in lumber form.
I see. It is real gnarly! Posts and timbers is the only way I see it used.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
i have heard it has excellent rot resistance, is this true?
yes when harvested right. Good for fence posts
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I've sawed quite a bit of black locust; used it for frames and breasthooks in small boats. It's very dense, strong, relatively stable and rot resistant (even from young trees) and can sport some nice grain patterns....one of my favorites and highly regarded by wooden boat builders.
To Rez: My first I.D. of the wood was Western Red alder. Alder can be color toned in a dry kiln and often is for cabinet and furniture wood.....can appear nearly identical to cherry and the coarse grain of your sample tended to cause me to lean that way.
However, in a later post, IIRC, you said the wood was heavy; dried alder is pretty light weight....about 27-28 lbs. per cubic foot if I remember correctly.
As usual you are right on. Alder is real light weight, I made hundreds of solid body guitars out of it.
I wish some one near me would saw Locust, either Black or Honey..we have scads of it. I guess it is tuff sawing, I know it kills my chainsaw chains prettty fast cutting firewood,,,at dusk, you get sparks now and again.Parolee # 40835
If we were closer, I'd saw it for you in an Oregon minute (that's about twice as long as a NY minute).
Speaking of guitars, I went to a potluck a couple of weeks ago...there was a guy there nearly as rusty as me, but still had the nuts to drag his guitar out and sing a few songs 'till his finger tips gave out. The crowd was all 55 and older so nobody gave a rat's a$$ when he missed a chord or forgot some lyrics.
Inspired me to drag out my old Gibson accoustic and start playing again; I'm getting together with him next week to jam a bit ahead of the next potluck....getting back on a guitar is a bit tougher than a bicycle though...but a bit more fun, IMO.
Do your self a favor. New strings. Oldies sound like crap, and are like playing barbed wire.Parolee # 40835
Not to worry: I put on new strings 'fore I even tried it. As rusty as I am, even tuning the thing was a trial.
Sounds good now though...I've taken care of the guitar...it's got a good tone for the kind of stuff I do (Dylan, Bromberg, Prine, Guthrie, Willie, Waylon, M. Robbins, S. and Gargoyle, et.al.).
Best guitar I ever had was a Gretsch accoustic that I bought in a hock shop in San Diego; great sound, fit me well, etc. As far as I know, Gresch doesn't make a flat top western style axe like that anymore.
But, alas, I took it to Vietnam with me and the humidity turned it into a sodden log.
Gave it to a buddy. He came back to the world and had it stolen within a week of getting home.
Maybe I should write a song to that guitar....I still pine for it on occasion.
Well, I went and weighed the thing. Here's the specs...
It's 82 3/4 inches long, 7 1/4 in. wide and 2 1/8in. thick weighing in at 32lbs.
Tried to make a indent with my thumb nail pressing till it hurt and the print was so small if you looked away you'd lose it.
The one end of the board is oxidized pretty dark as it apparently was untouched whenever the board was planed yet the length of the unplaned edges are pretty close to the red color of the planed surfaces.
Seeing those bowls makes me want to set up for woodworking.There was a stove, a bed, and a place to sit, an infant in the house where it was born, a silk parasol, gilt-framed looking-glass, and a patent new coffee-mill nailed to an oak sapling, all told. The bargain was soon concluded, for James had in the meanwhile returned. -Thoreau's Walden
Cherry will turn dark color even without light. Just takes a longer time.Plane off a bit or sand it to get to fresh wood.Then cover part of the fresh wood and put it out in the sun light for 4-8 hours.If you see the exposed wood much darker than the covered it is cherry or a similar photosnesitive wood..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Notchman ,
I think you are right. You are definitely right about the alder resembling cherry.
When I had the cabinet shop we used it quite a bit for face frames and door frames. On occasion if the need arose we could sort for a piece that would be a very close match to cherry. It also gets a fungal discoloration if not dried properly. The wood will have a bluish coloration to it.
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
I used to saw a lot of it and was considering building a dehumidification dry kiln for alder and other stuff.
Drove up to Oregon State and spent the day with a couple of specialty wood profs in the Forestry Dept. Along with a ton of info, was a set of kiln schedules for Alder....one of which was to dry at a higher heat with a close humidity depression to acheive a red tone....comes out just like cherry.
The last house I built was a fairly high end custom and I recommended my cabinet maker in Bandon who does first class work at a decent price. But, the customer opted for DeWills in cherry with their 1/2" CDX carcasses (with delaminations) and their flimsy crown moulds.
All the mouldings and the face frames were alder (which had just a light stain to match the cherry....the only cherry was the veneers on the cab doors and drawer fronts.
Final tally on the cabinets exceeded what I could have put in customs for.
Oh well.
BTW, Alder is also the preferred wood for professional carvers who do very real looking fish and birds, etc. I know the guy who is world renouned for his Trout displays (they sell for $15K and up, mostly for Hotel lobby's and Corp. Headquarters offices). He did one of a German Brown trout going after a frog that was so realistic, it made my heart pound. The guy lives over near Bend.
Notchman,
That is sad, one wishes that they could somehow have convinced the owners but sometimes it just doesn't work that way. BTW have you Ever driven north past Florence on 1 , maybe about ten miles up there is a small state park on the ocean side, just before a bridge.
Just across from that park and on the north side of the of the creek is a pyramidal house with extended balconies. Have you ever seen that place?
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Up by Haceta Head, the bridge just past the tunnel? I haven't been that way in awhile, but may head up to Cannon Beach in Sept.
I can't tell it on this forum, but I've got a great story about Haceta head. Maybe I'll email you.
I've got a client who was looking at alder cabinets. I talked them out of it because the only alder I've had any experience with (my son worked with an electric guitar maker and gave me scraps), was soft, softer than pine.It's beautiful though, would it it hold up for cabinets? It's the sheeit for smoking salmon, ummm I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
It's actually a great cabinet wood along with a lot of other uses: It's stable, when kd'd, stains well, is great for wood carving and is used for furniture frames. It's actually stronger than pine, though a bit more brittle.
It grows like a weed where I am...I use it for barbequeing and firewood and I've used it for concrete forms (sidewalks, patios, etc.). It's also a good fiber wood for white paper and a lot of alder chips are exported out of here to Japan.
I'll pass that along, if I ever get another client<G> Someone's got it in for me, they're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out but when they will I can only guess.
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy,
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me.
I can't help it if I'm lucky.
Growth rings are larger on a southern tree. You get a slightly lighter color as a side effect. I've got some cherry from Tennessee that looks like those boards.George Patterson
If that's not some kinda birch then I'm out.
Churry...send it here, I'll make sure<G> I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's twenty-four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
I agree. It was the sapwood/heartwood contrast that struck me too.George Patterson
Could be red birch.
I am pretty sure it is not red birch. Can't put my finger on it, but I have used a lot of red birch and it doesn't look like right to me. My first thought was Beechwood, but it has a lot of colour. I lean to cherry. Could be the alder too. It grows fast and can imitate cherry in its grain.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
When you say "red birch" is that the same wood that I would call black birch?If it's heavy, I would have said black birch.
Dunno, I never heard of black birch.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
have you tried this Q over at Knots?bring saucers so they dinae spill tea on the board
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
ok, I'll head over to Knots with it.
be green tea is ok and Earl Grey is worth a lookShe lighted a lamp to show me the inside of the roof and the walls, and also that the board floor extended under the bed, warning me not to step into the cellar, a sort of dust hole two feet deep. In her own words, they were "good boards overhead, good boards all around, and a good window" — of two whole squares originally, only the cat had passed out that way lately. -Thoreau's Walden
< Dunno, I never heard of black birch >Around here we have some white (may be paper) birch and yellow birch and what we call black birch. Black birch needs a lot of weight on it when you sticker and dry it. I think most is used for pallet lumber. A shame as it works up nice and a better red than cherry.
Red birch is the heartwood of yellow birch. It does look a lot like cherry, but doesn't darken nearly as much. It's a great wood for anyone who likes natural cherry, but doesn't want it to change color and become a dark wood.
"Red birch is the heartwood of yellow birch."I know that. We call it a poor man's cherry. It can shine some greenish tones through sometimes though so a bit of stain to keep the greens subdued can help.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Looks like either cherry or maybe even poplar.
What does it smell like when you sand or cut it? And what does the end grain look like?
http://hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/
Just for the fun of it I snapped a pic of a stand of Alder today on my way up to go canoing. Alder loves damp/wet soil. It is somewhat unusual in that it is a nitrogen fixer in the soil. As Notchman said it grows like a weed around here in the Coast range.
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Helps when I attach the pic.
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Here is a link describing how Alder is planted with Douglas-fir to boost growth of the DF:http://academic.reed.edu/biology/nitrogen/Nfix3.html
Basswood,
I have never read that source before , but have known for years of it's benefits to the DF stands. The timber companies used to spray to kill Alder but now plant it or at least let it grow because they recognize it's value. The area I took the pic in is part of the 1st. Tillamook Burn , actually not 5 miles from where it started . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillamook_Burn
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Can't be your place...it's sunshining...
" As Notchman said it grows like a weed around here in the Coast range."LOL. I was listening to a talk show one day where they had a forester as guest. A guy called to say he would like to know how to get some alders to come up in his field between wetlands and forest...The host and the forester bought broke out laughing in great roars and guffaws, then apologized and one said, "Just stand back so they don't knock you over when they jump out of the ground!"
That made them start laughing again.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Hoot and JeffC- thanks for those links. At six I passed him and his family on the road. One large bundle held their all — bed, coffee-mill, looking-glass, hens — all but the cat; she took to the woods and became a wild cat, and, as I learned afterward, trod in a trap set for woodchucks, and so became a dead cat at last. -Thoreau's Walden