Pine Burl or Rust Scar?

DanG · January 23, 2009, 12:45:21 AM

I've been admiring this pine tree in a church yard in Chattahoochee for years. Not only is it a huge speciman, but it has this big ol' blob on the side that looks for all the world like a burl. I don't even know if there is such a thing as a pine burl. ??? Anyway, I've never seemed to have the camera along when I had someone to provide a size comparison before, so I hadn't taken any pics of it. Well, as luck would have it, I picked up a hitchhiker the other day, so I made him stand next to it while I finally got a picture. ;D

SwampDonkey · January 23, 2009, 06:11:12 AM

Tom and Dang, I would call it a burl no matter what caused it. It's usually an injury from something to instigates it so whether it's rust, scar from a basketball hoop, or an insect it still qualifies as a burl in my mind. When you guys going to open it up?

Is that species of pine known for dimples like some northern hard pines (lodgepole), now that would be interesting eh? Sometimes our spruce have dimples to.

Lanier_Lurker · January 23, 2009, 08:31:18 AM

That is a grand tree indeed.

Is it a longleaf?

Dodgy Loner · January 23, 2009, 09:25:11 AM

That would, indeed, be a burl, DanG. My dictionary describes a burl as "a hard woody often hemispherical outgrowth on a tree". Wikipedia calls it "a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner". Your specimen fits both definitions. It does appear to me that the burl may have been caused by fusiform rust. Looks suspiciously like a loblolly pine to me, but it could be shortleaf or longleaf as well. So what is it? ???

Tom · January 23, 2009, 11:13:10 AM

It's a Not Sweetgum. :D :D

beenthere · January 23, 2009, 11:32:32 AM

Maybe Ash :

:

;D ;D

Tom · January 23, 2009, 11:55:48 AM

Nah..... that's me. ;D

Dodgy Loner · January 23, 2009, 12:01:47 PM

Quote from: Tom on January 23, 2009, 11:13:10 AM
It's a Not Sweetgum. :D :D

My dad and I are trying to manage his forest so we have a pure stand of Not Sweetgum ;)

submarinesailor · January 23, 2009, 12:22:52 PM

QuoteMy dad and I are trying to manage his forest so we have a pure stand of Not Sweetgum ;)

Dodgy, As I remember from my days in southern GA, that's going to be very hard to do. They came up very where on our place.

Bruce

DanG · January 23, 2009, 12:54:18 PM

Dodgy, it is a loblolly(p. Nonsweetgumus), one of the major Suthren Yeller Pine trees. I doubt if it is as old as one might assume from its size. It is a "wolf tree" that has been pruned over its lifetime. In good soil, such as that site, it isn't unusual to see growth rings over an inch apart in those trees. If I can find out the age of that building, we could probably make a pretty good guess about the age of the tree.

Texas Ranger · January 23, 2009, 01:01:47 PM

That fella in red looks like he has a purty good burl on him, as well. 8)

Dodgy Loner · January 23, 2009, 01:46:08 PM

Grandad had some loblollies on his place a little smaller than that that were 60-70 years old. All of them were open grown, for the most part. I would guess that tree is between 70 and 80 years old, by the looks of it.

DanG · January 23, 2009, 02:19:49 PM

That's about what I was thinking too. You sure can't compare it to forest trees when going by dbh to guess age.

Tom · January 23, 2009, 03:29:03 PM

That red burl isn't 70.

Dodgy Loner · January 23, 2009, 03:41:55 PM

Not for another four years, eh? ;D

SwampDonkey · January 23, 2009, 04:26:39 PM

Or 40. ;D :D

thompsontimber · January 24, 2009, 08:33:49 PM

I got a tract to cut later on this year that has a big Virginia pine with nice fat burl encompassing it.

WDH · January 24, 2009, 11:47:01 PM

Wow, what a nice specimen!! The tree looks nice, too

.

Left Coast Chris · January 25, 2009, 12:30:41 AM

I've seen some similar on big Pondorosa Pine out here but the bark is more uniform looking. Yours appears to have darker bark with possibly contorted bark patturn on the side away from the tree. In the walnut rootstock called "Paradox" a growth where the bark is contorted or exploding in a sense is called a gall. The Paradox is a cross between black walnut and english walnut and is very susseptable to crown gall. It will eventually kill a tree but the growth is mostly contorted bark and not solid wood so is not a burl.

Dan, I say you and Tom explain to the city that you think it is a gall and offer them your tree surgon skills to perform removal......... 8)

DanG · January 25, 2009, 12:42:57 AM

Well Chris, if that thing ever has to come down, the City will probably bring it to me. Frankly, I'm pulling for it to outlive me. :D :D I got no business messing with something that big.