# can anyone ID this weird bark?



## phinds (Mar 28, 2015)

Over on another forum, there's a wood ID thread on something that looks a bit like silky oak but grew in Utah (silky oak does grow in CA, so Utah's not impossible). The bark looks weird to me, but I don't know squat about bark, and I was surprised that none of the sawyers over there could ID it. Could be it IS silky oak and none of them have every cut any.

Any ideas?


----------



## manbuckwal (Mar 28, 2015)

The exterior bark looks similar to some of the Live Oak we have here in the valley, but I have never seen that pattern underneath .

Reactions: Thank You! 1


----------



## barry richardson (Mar 28, 2015)

I'm familiar with Silky Oak, the cambium layer and even the outer sapwood has that look, but the outer bark does not. It is shaggy/scaly and reddish, similar to mesquite bark. and my understanding is that it cant take hard freezes like Utah would get... So I'm no help lol, other that to say it doesn't look to me like silky oak....


----------



## phinds (Mar 28, 2015)

barry richardson said:


> I'm familiar with Silky Oak, the cambium layer and even the outer sapwood has that look, but the outer bark does not. It is shaggy/scaly and reddish, similar to mesquite bark. and my understanding is that it cant take hard freezes like Utah would get... So I'm no help lol, other that to say it doesn't look to me like silky oak....


Well, that IS a help. Thanks Barry.


----------



## Kevin (Mar 28, 2015)

It looks very close to red oak to me.


----------



## phinds (Mar 28, 2015)

Kevin said:


> It looks very close to red oak to me.


So that honeycomb under-bark is something that happens in red oak? If so, I'd say that clinches it. Another fellow on the other site said he had some oak that looked a lot like the mystery piece but he wasn't sure about the bark.


----------



## Kevin (Mar 28, 2015)

I'm fairly sure I've seen that honeycomb pattern in it before but wouldn't swear to it. I'll check some of the logs in the yard - most of them have lost most of the bark but maybe we'll get lucky.


----------



## phinds (Mar 28, 2015)

Kevin said:


> I'm fairly sure I've seen that honeycomb pattern in it before but wouldn't swear to it. I'll check some of the logs in the yard - most of them have lost most of the bark but maybe we'll get lucky.


Great. Thanks.


----------



## Kevin (Mar 28, 2015)

I don't know now Paul. Seems that if that is RO, all RO bark would have the honeycomb. Could have sworn (glad i didn't) that it was RO that had it. I know I've seen the pattern before but none of my RO has it. 



 


All my RO was standing dead when I harvested it but I wouldn't think that would matter.


----------



## phinds (Mar 28, 2015)

Well, the outer bark on you pic looks very close to that on the mystery wood.

Reactions: Agree 1


----------



## DKMD (Mar 28, 2015)

I had some wood sent to me from Arizona that was called desert walnut by the sender. It looked a lot like that, but I have no clue about the name he used... Probably not the proper name for what I got. Mine didn't have any bark on it, so I can't speak to the bark.


----------



## phinds (Mar 28, 2015)

DKMD said:


> I had some wood sent to me from Arizona that was called desert walnut by the sender. It looked a lot like that, but I have no clue about the name he used... Probably not the proper name for what I got. Mine didn't have any bark on it, so I can't speak to the bark.


what "that" are you talking about?


----------



## DKMD (Mar 29, 2015)

phinds said:


> what "that" are you talking about?


 
The area that looks like cholla on the right side of the piece


----------



## phinds (Mar 29, 2015)

DKMD said:


> The area that looks like cholla on the right side of the piece


I see. I was confused because that's bark (or cambium or something) not wood so I couldn't figure out what wood you were talking about.


----------



## phinds (Mar 29, 2015)

Mystery solved. Guy posted a good end grain shot and it's unquestionably live oak of some kind, probably coast live oak based on similarity to a piece I have.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## DKMD (Mar 29, 2015)

phinds said:


> I see. I was confused because that's bark (or cambium or something) not wood so I couldn't figure out what wood you were talking about.



I'm the one confused... I thought that was wood.


----------



## Kevin (Mar 29, 2015)




----------



## phinds (Mar 29, 2015)

DKMD said:


> I'm the one confused... I thought that was wood.


The guy who posted it called it "underbark" and talked about it as though it was part of the bark. Anyway, he's checked it against my site and is now confident that it is coast live oak as I suggested to him.

Reactions: Like 1


----------

