# Ok tree guys.



## holtzdreher (Jul 20, 2016)

I know some of you can identify a tree species from space if you want. I have owned this property for almost 30 years and noticed two trees with twisted trunks for the first time. Both about 60 ft high, down in a creek bottom along the creek. The twist is sort of like a muscular bulge that wraps clockwise wround the lower 40 ft of the tree. It is in Southern PA, 2 miles from the Susquehanna River and about 45 miles north of Baltimore Maryland. The ravine was just too steep and slippery to try to get closer. Sorry about the crappy picture, just to the left of center.


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

I'd guess poplar, but I really don't know.


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## High_Water (Sep 13, 2019)

Hard to say from the picture but I'd guess cottonwood, only because I get big cottonwoods growing in creek bottoms down here in TX. We don't really see poplars down here but I think they look similar. Leaves would help, or a do the smell test, cottonwood stinks like swamp gas and other foul things when cut.


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## Jar944_2 (Oct 30, 2020)

Not cottonwood (they don't grow here) and not yellow/tulip poplar. Both have very different bark from what is shown in the picture.

The picture isn't very good, a close up of the bark would help. It looks smooth to me? If so the location and general bark texture would make be think its beech.


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## Bernie_72 (Aug 9, 2020)

I don't think it's poplar...I own 80 acres up in northern Wisconsin with quite a bit of poplar on it. I've never seen any with a twisted trunk like that. We have some ironwood on that property and their trunks look very similar, but I've never seen one more than 25 or 30 feet tall. 

Ironwood is my least favorite wood since a branch of it robbed me of the biggest buck I've ever seen in my 48 years in this world. I was bow-hunting with my son when he was very young and we saw a large buck chasing a doe running through the woods. I rattled and surprisingly pulled him away from that doe and drew him in to about 30 yards from my tree stand. I let an arrow go...a perfect shot headed straight towards his heart...I heard it hit and saw the buck jump into the air and then run off. When I looked back I could see my arrow just hanging in the air, stuck in a small branch of an ironwood tree. As I was literally banging my head on the side of a tree my son pulled on my jacket and pointed out a very nice 8 pointer behind our stand. I took that buck and had it mounted along with the branch of ironwood with my arrow still stuck in it. It now hangs on the wall of my cabin reminding me of what could have been. 

Ironwood is amazingly strong. It's weight when cut is probably 2x or 3x that of white oak. It does lighten up a bit as it dries. A guy that lives about a 1/2 mile from our cabin looks for ironwood which he turns into nice curved walking sticks. 

As far as accurately identifying the tree goes, seeing some leaves would be the biggest help.


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## Weathy (Feb 11, 2021)

I took a dendrology class in college back when I was a forestry major and identifying trees was a primary part of the class. We had to ID trees by looking at their bark, leaves, buds, branch formation, and location in the forest. If we were lucky we had more than one trait to go by, but no matter what, any tree whose trunk looked like a muscle was ironwood.


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## Jay_L (Oct 16, 2020)

Edit: never mind....I was looking at the wrong tree!


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

Weathy said:


> If we were lucky we had more than one trait to go by, but no matter what, any tree whose trunk looked like a muscle was ironwood.


Lots of trees are called ironwood, do mean Ostrya virginiana?

@Jay_L I was looking at the wrong one too lol.


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## High_Water (Sep 13, 2019)

What tree are we looking at, the one in shadow to the left or the one in center frame!?


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## Bob Bengal (Jan 2, 2021)

I think this tree:


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## High_Water (Sep 13, 2019)

That makes a little more sense, in that case my guess was way off and I think Ironwood looks to be the culprit.








Carpinus caroliniana - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org






Carpinus caroliniana - Plant Finder




Carpinus caroliniana (American Hornbeam, Blue Beech, Hornbeam, Ironwood, Musclewood, Muscle Wood, Water Beech) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox


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## Jar944_2 (Oct 30, 2020)

Bob Bengal said:


> I think this tree:
> 
> View attachment 425371


That was my understanding as well.

Looks to be 18"+ at DBH. Ive never seen American Hornbeam (iron wood) even remotely close to that large.


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## David Nickell (Jul 6, 2020)

The trees in the background look like box elder to me, but I'm often wrong. The bark on the large tree is distinctive, but I would need to see leaves to identify it.


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## Bill4807 (Jan 13, 2019)

I really like the ironwood/ i call it musclewood not knowing the difference. 
I am in michigan and only have 3 musclewood trees on my property of 7 acres. 
They are small maybe 15 feet tall.
Storm took one down so i cut it in 8 foot sections to use it to make something not sure what yet. 
But man, it feels tough and solid and its only about 8 inches in diameter. And looks awesome. I wish i had more!


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## Peter Collin (Apr 15, 2020)

It looks like a musclewood, otherwise known as american hornbeam. If so, it should have very fine, wispy twigs. The leaves are small, serrated, and sort of football shaped. In the early summer the flowers form seed pods called catkins that are very distinctive. I did a video that discusses hornbeam among other things:


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## cuerodoc (Jan 27, 2012)

If it looks like “muscles”, and where it is, I’d say Hop Hornbeam.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

called ironwood in my part of the woods...

does it really look 18" in diameter to you? looks like < 12" to me... jmho.

lots of folks like the thinner brances/trunks to make walking sticks.


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