What pine is this?

[ray299]

Cut this pine two years ago. Noticed it had no sap so saved it. I'm milling it now, cuts easy, light... Wandering what it is and how well it'll handle the outside elements. Is this like cedar? Smells like pine but not strong...
Oh, and the tree was living when dropped.



 

[HemlockKing]

Not white pine that's for sure. Possibly red pine ?

[ray299]

Not white pine that's for sure. Possibly red pine ?

It definitely has a red tint to it...

[Don P]

Red pine usually has a star pattern of heartwood when looked at from the cutoff end of the log rather than a round circle of red heartwood.

I consider red pine to be very fragrant, pinus resinosa.

[melezefarmer]

The grain looks like tamarack.

[moodnacreek]

The grain looks like tamarack.

That would explain why, being an old log, it is so clean.

[ray299]

Thanks guys

[cabindoc]

Red pine.  If dropped in winter months, sap down.  Most popular pine in the Northeast.

[Don P]

Sap doesn't go down  ;) On a sunny winter day a tree with needles is photosynthesizing, ones with green under the bark are making food through that chlorophyll.

[cutterboy]

Red pine.  Most popular pine in the Northeast.

No, White pine.

[snobdds]

In Wyoming we would consider that a spruce, not a pine.  Spruce have the shaggy bark...

[HemlockKing]

All I have are white pine, red spruce, black spruce and white spruce, and I can tell ya that definitely ain't no spruce 

[Mapleman]

I'm going to stick me neck out here and say based on the look of the bark and the fungus growing on the end and no sap that it  looks like the hemlock I have around here.  What did the needles look like?

[HemlockKing]

We need a pro to verify this lol the confusion is getting out of hand now lol lol 

[beav]

Maple man is right. Hemlock.

[SwampDonkey]

If you lift a piece of that scaly bark up, and it is purple-red under there, then it's hemlock. Looking at the knot pattern, no to pine.

[wbrent]

Looks like tamarack to me. 

[HemlockKing]

Between tamarack and hemlock, I'm going with hemlock, I also have tamarack here, the bark scales is much smaller and less ridgey with tamarack

[hacknchop]

Actually looks more like Jack Pine, bark pattern is right and so is the grain ,haven't got a clue what the latin name is. That's just my uneducated guess.

[SwampDonkey]

p. banksiana is jack pine. One thing to keep in mind, some folks call native evergreens pines, no matter if spruce, pine, hemlock or fir. ;D

[beav]

On the right side of the photo near the bottom you can see the purple red color on the bark strips cut by the mill. There is a teeny piece showing on the slab on the bottom where it got nicked and shows the same

[barbender]

Gosh this is starting to look like a Facebook sawing page, I'm just waiting for someone to declare it red oak!😂
It's hard to tell by the picture, the sawn lumber really looks like tamarack. I have no hemlock here, so no idea what that looks like inside. The swirly grain and coloration says tamarack, but tamarack is not a real lightweight wood. 

[WDH]

Anybody can just look and guess, but I prefer to look at the defining characteristics and the structure of the wood.  For instance, some softwood species have resin and distinct structures called resin canals to transport that resin. These structures are visible on the end grain with a 10x hand lens.  All species of pine have numerous and prominent (large) resin canals.  Tamarack (genus Larix) also has resin canals but they are not as numerous and they are not as large.  Hemlock does not have resin canals at all.  

So, look closely at the end grain to look for resin canals.  If they are there, the wood cannot be hemlock.  If they are not there, it is most likely hemlock.  If they are there, and if they are numerous and stand out (very easy to see) it is pine.  If they are there but few, scattered, and small (not prominent, it is tamarack.  

[jpassardi]

I haven't seen tamarack growing in my region of CT - not in stands anyway. That looks alot like hemlock to me.

[SwampDonkey]

.......and jack pine, unless planted, is a boreal forest tree. ;) None here in natural forest in Carleton County. But NE of here in Northumberland County I can find all kinds of it in pure stands or mixed with black spruce. The planted stuff is crap, the natural stuff where it grew thicker is straight and like poles.