Thread: Burls - what causes them???

Read all the answers (belatedly) and found burley a reasonable cause!
Who cares? Just be thankful for their magnificent existence!

Originally Posted by Caveman

Looks that way seems to be the only current option!




Hmm - good question - the most common Eucalypt planted around town is saligna, which is possibly what the ones in the background are, but as for the one with burls on it I've no idea.

Perhaps someone would like to hazard a guess - have attached a couple more pictures?

Gee That tree is just burl!! Wonder if you could clone them.(Burl trees.)

I would guess that it could be a Euc. sideroxylon...the one behind it a saligna with a maculata possibly behind that.

If it is a sideroxylon its a bit crook....

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

I would guess that it could be a Euc. sideroxylon...the one behind it a saligna with a maculata possibly behind that.

If it is a sideroxylon its a bit crook....

G'day BT - would say all the ones in the background were saligna despite being a bit spotty, but still not sure about the burly one - doesn't quite look right for an ironbark (even if it's a bit crook).

Does sideroxylon burl often?

Will check for any flowers or something more distinctive next time I'm in town.

It may be of interest to you to know that burls are found in trees around the world. However in Britain they are called Burrs. In Australia, you will find a lot of burls on mallees.

I am in the Appalachian hardwood forest, mountains of Virginia, USA....we see quite a bit of "Burl" growth on trees. The building that I work in is bordered by a river with quite a bit of growth along the rivers edge. There are a ton of trees with "growths" on the limbs and trunks. Some of these range in size from softball to watermelon. They are too high to be physical damage, leads me to believe it is something that has been introduced, viral/fungal and the trees in the bottom that are affected are Black Locust, Honey Locust, Black Walnut (juglans nigris) two varieties of Cherry, Ash, Hickory, Red Oak (quercus ...something) AND Persimmon....the real question is this....what is the best way to season these guys so they will dry adequately with a minimum of "seasoning problems" (splits/checks/cracks/etc) I have cut some, turned immediately to get close to a shape, bagged and dried slow/cut others sealed both ends with paraffin, cut others and bagged to force slow dry....hate to keep wasting these one of a kind beauties.....HELP!!

I thought that every one new how burls were made my college professor told us that it comes from a bug or foreign object and the plants natural instinct to protect itself just like an oyster does with anything that gets in side of its shell but the catch is that not every time something gets in side the plant that it feels threatened so it does not always react I guess it just depends what gets inside.Not sure how correct it is but that is just what I have been told to be true.