Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: redwasp on October 21, 2008, 09:45:07 pm
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ive never seen a birch tree with bark this dark. mabey some of you know what this is. I found it in a roadside ditch they must have done some trimming on the road or someone cutting firewood but they left this. 10 ft long so i picked it up on my shoulder and loaded it up. I figure i dont know much about types of trees but i would try it anyway. the wood is white when fresh cut but changes color to a more yellow orange when it dries. found it right by the delaware river on border of jersey and pennsylvania called the "watergap". im still going to try to make a bow from it even though i dont know what is . any help much appreciated.(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i245/jacque_pooh/logifound002.jpg)
(http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i245/jacque_pooh/logifound001.jpg)
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the birch i've seen had white bark with black v's under the limbs, but the characteristics of the bark with the thin horizontal lines makes me think it is a birch otherwise no clue.
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looks like yellow birch to me. Or a young cherry. The bark of the two species are very similar. Hope this helps. Al
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Looks like some kinda birch to me too,(bark does'nt have to be white to be a birch).Maybe some kinda cherry ? Frank
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no leaves or anything of the like laying with it?
could be birch,or maybe old poplar tree,hard to tell without leaves
sorry im not the brightest bulb on the tree lol
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Looks like sweet birch(Betula lenta...also called cherry birch). Scrape the bark and smell. Oil of wintergreen comes from sweet birch. You should smell the wintergreen. Also, when you scrape the bark check the cambium layer(just under the outer bark) and be sure it is bright green. If not, be leery of the wood. Fungi could have already moved in. Pat
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Could be birch,but kind of looks like a young Wild cherry. ???
Pappy
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Looks like a wild cherry to me...
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I vote a hybrid version of honey locust that doesn't have any thorns, but does still show the scars where the thorns would be if they did have them. They're planted a lot for ornamental purposes and called "Honey" Locust because the heartwood is the color of honey. Is there a color variation between the sapwood and heartwood?
~~Papa Matt
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I agree with Pappy and Greg, looks like cherry.
Can you show a picture of the wood?
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It's either sweet birch or wild cherry. Like Pat said, scrape the bark and sniff. If it smells like wintergreen, it's sweet birch. If it has an unpleasant bitter/almond smell, it's wild cherry.
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smells like wintergreen for sure what a nice smell and is green under the bark. thank you for all your help. will sweet birch make a good bow if i make it wide and flat? or should i made a "D" bow?.
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I have made a few with sweet birch but not in a few years. Go long and wide with a flat belly and you should be OK. Pat
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thanks Pat thats what i thought , just needed some confirmation. thanks for your time
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Dang! Here I was gonna say maybe " Black Birch"......So that is where winter green comes from huh? Cool.
Uh......so......uh......why do they call it Winter Green, in stead of "Sweet Birch"......Must have been a Government person doing the naming of it.
Wayne
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SB-black birch, sweet birch, cherry birch, all the same tree (Betula lenta). I think most wintergreen is made synthetically now, but at one time there were distilleries here in the western NC mountains that processed wintergreen oil extracted from birch trees. there was a cottage industry here collecting the stuff. Methyl salicylate, or oil of wintergreen, is also found in the wintergreen plant (Gaultheria), and was also extracted from it. Birch beer was also a traditional thing here-people tapped the sweet birches just like you would a sugar maple and collected the sap to ferment.
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Thanks Hillbilly. Now I don't feel so too pretty dumb. Thanks for the edjumacation, on the winter green, also.
Wayne
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SB, I ain't actually that smart, just happened to be reading a book the other day that was talking about wintergreen distilleries here in the mountains. :)
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It still counts. No one else spoke up. I know about the birch beer. My buddy used to make it.
Wayne
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How is it? I've never tried any, always wanted to. I remember hearing my Grandpa talk about making it back in the day.
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Well what I had and he called Birch beer, he said it was made with birch, but I think it had some Sassafras too. Tasted like root beer with a kick. In fact it was pretty good. I don't recall any Winter Green flavor. Just pretty much like Root Beer, but it had a little extra alcoholic kick. Not real high, but you could tell it wasn't store bought. Sort of like near beer. not a high content. He was always brewing something or another. Of course I was always willing to test it. He made a pretty good wine also.
Wayne
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so if i chew on the bark will it make my breath smell better. lol, or mabey give me the runs.
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Wow, I live a long way from the NE and at first glance would have sworn cherry. I need to work on my tree ID next time I get out that way, hmm...
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Paul, that's one reason another common name for it is "cherry birch" :) The bark on young trees looks a lot like cherry bark.
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That explains it. All the birch I saw - and cherry looked totally different from each other. Thiers whole different critters out there ;D.
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Redwasp, You can use a twig for a tooth brush. Chew one end until it bristles and use it like a tooth brush...and it has a nice minty taste. ;D