Ash ID in South Carolina

[Okrafarmer]

And all this time I was hoping that white ash had white bark, and green ash had green bark.  :-\

[Al_Smith]

It cut fairly easily with the chainsaw (not like hickory), and smelled a bit like burned wood (like hickory does, but definitely softer). Another possibility could be basswood,

Ash in the green live state is relatively easy to cut .If it' s dead like all of ours although they retain moisture they are hard as a rock .I've been debating that subject with my learned  bud Swampish for some time .Now of course both of us being rather firm minded won't give an inch . :D

Basswood is soft and I doubt would ever get hard unless you brine soaked the lumber or something .Fact it's so soft in the green state a well sharpened chainsaw chain will pull big long fluffy chips that look like planer chips .

I've got pics of both ash and basswood and if you want I'll post them but I figured most people know the difference already .

[Okrafarmer]

Well, I haven't dealt much with either one in a long time, but at least I can tell the difference when the leaves are on.  :-\

[Dodgy Loner]

So, the upland ash where the bark goes from ridged, then to blocky, then back to ridged, then back to blocky is usually white ash?  Almost knobby, like a big upland balckgum?

Yes, the knobby ash bark is almost always white ash. It can be almost identical to upland blackgum until you cut into it. The ash bark will be soft and a light khaki color when cut, while blackgum will be crumbly and have light brown and dark brown splotches when cut. Blackgum is a chameleon. It likes to look like sweetgum, too. But sweetgum bark is the color of dried blood when you cut into it.

[SwampDonkey]

I have not paid much attention to bark differences in the two up here, Our white ash has a brown tinge to the bark and diamond shape when young. It almost always has white spots (not lichen or fungus) on the younger bark like young maple and young large tooth aspen. When the tree is quite old it looses this diamond pattern and tends to become flat ridged and scaly in narrow strips maybe 6" long.

Around here, if you have to wade water to get to an ash, it's black ash. The white ash is an upland tree, but rich deep soils with lots of moisture, black humic soil, but well drained and always with sugar maple (or aspen), sometimes butternut and basswood. Red maple may be present, but not a good indicator because it grows on a wide range of sites. If there is black ash with it, the black ash will be around wet water soaked sites. Never see white ash in glacial sand type soil. ;D