what are trees with holes?

[Dave VH]

  I was at my buddys place the other day, and he has a whole forest of trees like this.  The young ones it just looks like they are covered in small burrs, the more mature ones have these wholes in them.
I though it to be interesting.  I've never heard of this before, I was wandering if any of yall recognized them.  (south western Michigan)





 

[Okrafarmer]

Do you know what species they are? Do they seem to all be the same species? Could be a fungus or other infestation ran rampant there.

[Texas Ranger]

Looks like rot when/where the lower limbs died with crown closure.  The "burrs" may have been limb stubs grown over.

[Dave VH]

no, I don't know the species, I'm not very good at determining species.  Whats weird is between the young trees, and the mature ones, there is over a thousand, and they are all the same as the one that I took a picture of is one of many.  The bigger ones, the holes go all the way through.

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like canker, that infect willow and aspen. Those look like willow from what I can tell. A couple there in the middle of the photo look like beech with beech bark disease. The way one of them goes up and quickly gets a crook to broaden out the crown is like what we call "apple tree" beech. But they may be willow to, I just can't tell whether the bark is smooth beteen the bumps in the photo.

[Autocar]

They look like white ash to me, maybe it comes from the ash bore after repeated attacks. I have ash trees but much bigger that has the same scars.

[Dave VH]

I would of never guessed, thanks for the reply

[woodtroll]

That is Sassafras!
Scrape the bark I bet it is fragrant.
Bark color is right, patern is right, the canker is very typical.
Plus they are very common in SW Mi.
That canker shows up in thick stands.

[Dave VH]

I'll have to scrape the bark and see, or should I say scrape the bark and smell.

[Okrafarmer]

Got to love these scratch and sniff species.  ;D

[woodtroll]

once scraped it should be orange-ish in color, but the  smelling is more fun.

[SwampDonkey]

What? no taste test? ;D

[woodtroll]

that works to. Twigs taste "spicy". The new branches are green I would taste them to make sure,  Once it was a black gum, yuck tastes like soap. That was long ago and a mistake not repeated. :D
Glad I learned barks.

[SwampDonkey]

Bark isn't fool proof. Seen that a lot of time on here. ;D

[WDH]

Within a geographical region, bark is one of the best distinguishing characteristics.

[Okrafarmer]

Within a geographical region, bark is one of the best distinguishing characteristics.

Especially hackberry and white birch.

[woodtroll]

Pictures of bark are different to the bark of trees you see daily. There are lots of regional differences. But some still show. For me, back when first learning, I could not see the leaves. Had to learn the bark, buds, then leaves, nuts, smells, tastes whatever helped my mind to learn my trees. I wish I could remember the Latin names like I remember the taste of black gum.  ;)

[Okrafarmer]

If there's ever any doubt about a walnut, I can tell by picking the bark apart. Soft, fibrous, easy to shred with fingers, and consistent rich dark brown on the  inside shredded parts of bark.

[SwampDonkey]

Pictures of bark are different to the bark of trees you see daily. There are lots of regional differences. But some still show.

Very true, when you see it and look it all over it's way better than photos.  But we are ID'ing on the forum by photos, so let's not detract. ;)

[beenthere]

Woodtroll
You make a good point, that pictures just don't show the intricacies that we often use to separate trees by species when walking through the woods or actually viewing logs in a stack, or on a truck, or coming into the sawmill. Makes for some confusion and a bit of guessing with pics, as evident on the forum.  ;D

[Jeff]

What? no taste test? ;D

What if it turns out to be pith elm?  ;)

[Dave VH]

there doesn't seem to be any smell, or special coloring in the bark.

[Dave VH]

and no, I didn't taste it.

[SwampDonkey]

What if it turns out to be pith elm?  ;)

Couldn't be much worst than skunk spruce. :D

[Okrafarmer]

Don't they make asprin out of willow bark? So if you taste it and your pain quits hurting, you know it's willow?