# Rarest of the rare



## Shannon T

In the section entitled 'Recent finds, coming attractions & wood showcase' you'll see that founding member 'Shoeless Joe Shadetree' posted photos of extremely rare alligator juniper root burl (_Juniperus deppeana_) from a fallen tree in Arizona.

Root burls are hard to come by for the obvious reason that they are hidden, but also because the best are from species of trees in out-of-the-way places. Think of chittum and thuya burl. Alligator juniper and thuya root burl are from trees growing at elevation and in challenging conditions (wind and climatic extremes), and all all three are from trees growing in nutrient poor substrate and little water.

I reckon root burls are my favourite as they exhibit small eyes often arranged as cat's paws, and tightly packed and contorted annular rings. While not usually dense and heavy, root burls are very sturdy, like the trees they come from.

In the attached photographs, you see a matched shaving set made up with some of Joe Shadetree's wood. I believe this may well be the only shave set ever made from alligator juniper root burl. Feel free to tell me know if you differently. The burl wood is super to work with. Each of this shave set's pieces were sanded through 26 applications from 120 to 12,000 grit, then buffed with tripoli and white diamond. The finish is 30 coats of cyano-acrylate (CA). The inset on the bottom of the badger hair shaving brush is turquoise and pyrites, from the mine at Kingman, Arizona. I estimate the tree this root burl came from was well over 100 years old.

Reactions: Like 4 | EyeCandy! 16 | Way Cool 8


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## manbuckwal

Very nice ! Looks like yellow cedar burl

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Shannon T

Hi Manbuckwal –

Your observation is a good one. Nootka cypress (_Cupressus nootkatensis_), commonly called yellow cedar, does make similar looking burls, but they are trunk burls, not root burls as far as I know. Thing is that Nootka cypress often grows in difficult conditions where it can outcompete less well-adapted species. This cypress populates high, rocky cliffs above the Pacific Ocean and contends with salt spray, high winds and poor nutrients. Away from the ocean, it grows in rocky soils and windward locations.

As for root burls I mentioned in the first entry in this thread, some conifers such as Nootka cypress and, say, Himalayan white spruce burl do form burl wood with intense small eyes ( 'cat's paw' and 'lace' patterns) and pins, along with swirling and densely-packed grain.

In the photos below, you see a Baron rollerball pen I made up from Nootka cypress (top photo), and a Sedona rollerball made with Himalayan white spruce burl Bottom photo).

Shannon

Reactions: EyeCandy! 8 | Way Cool 2


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## ironman123

Thanks for the lesson. Those pieces are very well executed.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## JR Custom Calls

@shadetree_1 Joe always has something way out there. Really nice set.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Shannon T

This is a more accurate photo of the alligator juniper root burl. Has more of a pinkish brown colour than yellowish.

Reactions: EyeCandy! 6 | Way Cool 1


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## shadetree_1

Thanks Shannon your work is outstanding! You did wonders with my Juniper and I thank you !


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## Sirfishalot

That is just plain Sick! Awesome job.

JayT


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## Shannon T

Hi JayT –

Thanks for your words. The alligator juniper is a very rare burl, like most root burls. I reckon burls forming on roots in challenging environments (e.g. high winds, scarce moisture, scanty nutrients and temperature extremes) can be complex and highly figured. For more photos and descriptions, please check out WolverineWood on Etsy and Facebook. For e.g., you can find photos of a chittum burl set on these.

Cheers,
Shannon


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## SENC

Beautiful work and thanks for sharing your knowledge on them!


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