what kind of pear tree

[rebocardo]

I cut down a few different trees for someone and they said this was a pear tree. I have not been able to ID it in my tree book, they do not list pear!










The wood when cut was bright orange, but, it has faded a bit. It did have some splated looking wood in the butt area I saved. Unfortunately I was not able to saw the trunk into real boards because of the time limit I was under. Tree was about 30 feet high, started to fork off into four big branches about 8 feet off the ground and the DBH was about 18 inches. Wood was very light compared to white oak. The leaf edges are serrated.

I ID this tree as Western Red Cedar. It smells great. Trees were on the slim side, but, I got some 12"h x 8"w x 1t" slabs for that BBQ thing everyone is talking about. My first real cedar trees although they were only about 6-8 DBH.

[GareyD]

I think this is what yer lookin' at

When I bought mine at the nursery they called them "Bradford Pear"...doesn't fruit, but is covered with white blossoms in the spring time...my oldest grandson calls 'em "Popcorn Ball" trees  :D :D

[Doc]

Stink like mad when the blooms start to rot away too. I won't go into detail as to what I describe the smell as, but lets just say it has an adulterated quality to it......nasty!

Doc

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like a good match guys. We grow clapp and barlett up here, but not as far north as I am. A little to the south where the season is a little longer. I've tried them here and the bark splits and they get cankers bad.

[SwampDonkey]

rebo,

Western red has a kind of sweet smell to the heartwood. Pleasant.

[rebocardo]

That (fresh) leaf and bark look like the tree. Bradford Pear it is then.  I think I might try smoking some beef with it tonight

The tree was dropping these little red balls (popcorn?)/blossoms into the guy's gutter. The tree had already split once and he was afraid of it doing it again and killing the new roof he was putting on, hence my time limit.

The orange color is beautiful, I have some of the nicest looking firewood! I might advertise it as "rare and beautiful Bradford Pear firewood meant for only the most upscale fireplaces and BBQ" on E-Bay for $500 a cord. Shipping extra ...  :D

I have white oak, red oak, mockernut hickory, pear, and cedar slabs. All ready for summertime frying. All I need now is to learn how to catch catfish by hand.

I know WRC is not suppose to grow around here, but, going by the pictures and the fact they were landscaped in around the backyard that is my guess. They probably would have faired better if they had been planted more then 8 feet apart. They sure smell sweet.

Thanks for the help!

[Pullinchips]

Are you sure that is not a leyland cypress! a tree that many people plant to form a wall, border or hedge row?

[Riles]

Hey, chips! Welcome to the forum. I was wondering how many other Clemson grads were out there. I'm a 1983 EE, but I'm headed off to Louisiana Tech this fall to start over with a forestry degree.

[rebocardo]

Chips, that is why I posted the picture. I had thought it might be cypress the way it was used, but, it does smell like cedar, though my wife wanted to know why the wood was white instead of red if it was WRC.

[Ianab]

Hi Rebocardo

The conifer I'd go with it being a Chamaecyparis of some type. Hard to be sure, but lawsoniana (Port Orford Cedar ) or nootkatensis (Alaskan cedar) both look like that. Leylands cypress is also a possiblilty, (it's a hybrid of the nootkatensis and Cupressus macrocarpa and has very similar  leaf / wood)
If the wood smells like ginger it's probably Port Orford, the Leyland timber has much less smell. The picture of the wood looks like Leyland, and thats what my current computer desk is made of.
I dont know about cooking on the Lawson, it's pretty powerfull scent  :

Did you get a picture of the tree or it's seed cones, that would help too ???

Cheers

Ian

[SwampDonkey]

Looks like Atlantic white cedar Chamaecyparis thyoides (aromatic) or as Ianab said Port-Orford-Cedar Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (has ginger-like odor). Alaskan cedar has a different odor, but smililar characteristics to Port-Orford. On the west coast Alaskan cedar grow up in the mountains above 400 m in elevation. Alaskan is not likely to grow in your climate. Red cedar has purplish or reddish brown heart.

[Pullinchips]

I know that it is not e. red cedar and i'm sure rebo knows that to being from Hotlanta.   I was born and raised in SC that does not really look like red cedar. also the smell wood give it away as cedar because e. red smells like what we think of cedar as smelling like.  W. red cedar does not smell like cedar if i remenber fron school ( not around here in the woods) i think it smells starchy like potatoes? Help me on that one anybody. As said before if it is leyland cypress it does not have a strong odor. Another way which may dot help  is that leyland is steril meaning it can not reproduce on its own sow if you see or saw regen around the base it is not leyland.  I dont think it is Atlantic w. cedar, there are not many in the woods where i like, been cut out of most of the forests years ago, but it does not look like the ones i have seen, but then again i cant help much on that one. But i dont beleive that it is atlantic white cedar.  Just offering up my regional opinion and thought on this. 

This is a great forum by the way!!


-Nate

[SwampDonkey]

pullinchips,

I've found that alaskan yellow cedar (false cypress) smells like peeled potatoes or carrots and western red is a sweet odor, but not spicy. I doubt western red cedar will grow in the Georgian climate. The picture of the wood rebo has, definately isn't western red. The eastern and southern red cedars are junipers , while the western red and northern white for instance are cedars thuja. Sure can be confusing. ;)

[rebocardo]

> Sure can be confusing. 

Yea, the only thing I can really spot first time out without a book is red oak, white oak, or Magnolia.

It smells like sweet cedar with a touch of pine smell and it is strong enough so you can smell the wood pile 50 feet away. Except the carpenter ants in a blow over, the bugs do not seem to like it. It was excellent to cut and very fast, even the small Stihl cut it like butter. I tried using the Husky 365 on it, but, it was like dropping the saw it went so quick.

I really should have taken my camera since these trees were landscaped in as a fence/wind break. It looked like a tall, bushy, narrow Christmas tree since they were planted so close and the way the limbs were around the trunk it looked like pine. Here is a picture of the bark, which looks like the cedar bark in the book I have:

[rebocardo]

> I doubt western red cedar will grow in the Georgian climate.

I ground a cedar stump (smelled like cedar) and the wood was almost orange and about 30" across. People had tried to burn it and it was still there after decades with no decay. If it was in my yard I would have dug it up and used the wood. From the descriptions here, I guess if it smells like cedar it is not WRC, wonder what it was because it had to be a native tree being that big.

[Pullinchips]

Rebo,  From your description of how they were planted and how big they were and the limb down low i still think that it is leyland cypress. windrowing or fence lines as well as a fast growing landscape tree is all that they or good for.  As for its odor i really dond know never cut any up or tore up the needles.  It can also be used as an Christmas tree on a tree farm.  It is a very fast growing tree faster than ERC.  Also cedar when large does not seem to keep its low limbs well on large trees.  They either stay short and do not lengthen at the same rate as the limbs at say 4-6 ft do or as it gets older may start to loose them.  Leyland seems to retain its lower limbs better as an old tree than ERC.  These are my observations on trees though not studied and scientifically proven, there also can be regional differences in tree growth and form.  But you and i are the same climate i live south of charlotte, NC  Same trees same temps.

[rebocardo]

I did some YAHOOing and it looks like leyland cypress is out because they have branches that grow up at a good angle. The branches on these trees, though they were right at ground level, and they looked like Christmas trees,  went straight out from the tree without curving up, and the leaves only grew on the ends, and they had no dead branches like you find in the middle of a pine tree,  if that matters.

One thing, is out of four trees,  three of them turned to doubles/forks of equal size about eight feet off the ground. Whatever the tree, I imagine this is common (3 of 4). The bark is kind of stringy where it feels like you could peel it off sort of like small strips of cloth.

[Pullinchips]

now im thinking it may be atlantic white cedar from the branch description of only the ends.