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DoctorBobski
6th September 2009, 07:46 AM
Can anyone tell me what type of wood this is?

artme
6th September 2009, 09:21 AM
Can't really help with id but it certainly looks promising for all sorts of purposes that don't include burning.

Make sure you seal the ends and stack to dry. If you could it would be worth having it cut in half to relieve some of the stresses as it dries.

Ed Reiss
6th September 2009, 12:09 PM
looks like an acacia...nice heartwood. Should get some nice turnings / good find:2tsup:

DoctorBobski
6th September 2009, 06:56 PM
Thanks for the replies.I should have mentioned the tree is deciduous so I don't have any leaves to show. I'll get some sanded items up next week which may help identify it. Cheers

hughie
6th September 2009, 07:30 PM
looks like Arborous Gratis :U

DJ’s Timber
6th September 2009, 08:12 PM
Looks very much like Elm to me

Rum Pig
7th September 2009, 09:11 AM
Looks like a Rain tree or Albizzia to me.

Ozkaban
7th September 2009, 11:49 AM
A nice species name I saw recently was 'Damifino'. Seems appropriate :D

Cheers,
Dave

IanW
8th September 2009, 09:10 AM
You blokes sure like to make it easy! None of the botanical features that help ID! Did it have compound leaves & winged fruits when alive? If so, I would suggest Tipuana (Tipuana tipu), - the bark & the dark heartwood look right. It's yet another botanical rabbit that has been foisted on the Brisbane environs. Its common name is "Rosewood", though not closely related to the real rosewoods (Dalbergias) as far as I know. I've eyed off a few chunks of it when some large trees were cut down at UQ, but the chippers got them first. I suspect it is pretty lively stuff from the rate at which it grows.....
Cheers,

artme
8th September 2009, 12:01 PM
Don't know about that IanW The bark isn't furrowed as is Tipuana is. Also when cut Tipuana bleeds a red sap and the juncture between bark and sap gets quite red.

Agree with your assessment of it as a botanical rabbit.

I picked up a few pices but the bloody stuphph split and walked everywhere. Maybe that was because they were branch bits.

IanW
8th September 2009, 01:13 PM
Don't know about that IanW The bark isn't furrowed as is Tipuana is. Also when cut Tipuana bleeds a red sap and the juncture between bark and sap gets quite red.


Artme - I am never confident about id-ing from pics of bits of wood, so I'm open to any & all other suggestions!
The bark looks ok to me - it's quite variable depending on the age of the tree & where the bit was cut from. There are dozens of the damn things of all sizes, over the UQ campus, so I get to see a few (as well as the mongrel thing on the place next door that keeps trying to establish its children in my yard. :~). And the wood looks dry, as if from a dead tree, so that may explain the absence of sap. But all that said, I admit it was only a guess from the appearance of the cut trunk & can't think what else looks like that round here....

On the matter of Tipuana (whether this tree is one or not),
On the Aust Govt 'weed alert' page:
http://www.weeds.gov.au/publications/guidelines/alert/t-tipu.html

they say:
"Rosewood has been planted all over the world as an ornamental street tree and garden plant. It is also valued as a shade tree, a source of 'rosewood' timber and, in some circumstances, fodder for stock. In Australia it was originally planted in the 1970s in Queensland's suburban gardens and streets."

The bit about "Rosewood timber" piqued my interest, so I am still keeping my eyes open fopr a chunk to play with sometime, however, your experience with it doesn't bode well, but doesn't surprise me, either - anything that grows so prolifically is unlikely to be good!

Cheers,

Wizened of Oz
8th September 2009, 04:12 PM
Peltophorum pterocarpum. Yellow Flame or (wrongly) Yellow Poinciana

Rum Pig
8th September 2009, 04:15 PM
Peltophorum pterocarpum. Yellow Flame or (wrongly) Yellow Poinciana
The Poinciana and yellow flame tree I know do not have a dark hart wood like that?

IanW
8th September 2009, 04:20 PM
The Poinciana and yellow flame tree I know do not have a dark hart wood like that?

Didn't think the bark looked like Peltophorum, either - there's one just outside the building I work in, just about to burst into flower. I took a good look at a couple of Tipuanas at lunchtime & I reckon the bark is identical to what is shown in the pics. Not going to argue about the colour of any sap, but the cut sections look just like the trees they took down over by the boatsheds a couple of years ago (which were definitely Tipuanas - identified to me by a botanist.)

And so it goes....

Rum Pig
8th September 2009, 04:31 PM
from the pics provided I'm still voting for Albizia albeck but we will be able to tell more when the next set of pics come out.

TTIT
8th September 2009, 06:46 PM
from the pics provided I'm still voting for Albizia albeck but we will be able to tell more when the next set of pics come out.I'm with Rum Pig on this one with albizia lebbeck. The bark isn't as coarse as the older trees around here but the thick sapwood layer and dark heartwood fit right and they do drop all their leaves for a short period each year.
I never seen dark heartwood in Tipu (Tipuana) and have never been able to figure out how it got the name 'Rosewood' 'cos it has none of the characteristics usually associated with any thing tagged 'Rosewood'.

DoctorBobski
8th September 2009, 07:11 PM
Thanks for the input everyone. Realised I've made it hard so went over the road to find some of the dropped leaves. I have also tried to work out if the branches are opposing and zooming in they may be but I still can't be sure. The tree is deciduous and as such I don't have any green leaves. The tree was just about to shoot hence the reason to cut it down now. Will post polished grain on Friday. Cheers

IanW
8th September 2009, 09:46 PM
Hey Artme - my sincerest apologies, I've made a complete ass of myself, as is so often the case. :C

I checked the actual tree my friend identified as Tipuana to me, & you are, of course, right - it has a furrowed bark. The ones I saw at lunchtime, I always thought were the same, but they have different bark, just like in the pics above, and tonight I found one with a few seeds left on it - they are pods, not like the winged seeds of the Tipuana. This tree does have compound leaves (though both types of tree have shed their leaves at the moment) and is almost certainly a legume, too. So I will get my botanist friend to id the tree I thought was a Tipuana & it may well bethe correct one, at last.

Cheers,

artme
9th September 2009, 08:56 AM
Ian it is, as you have said very difficult to identify a species with little evidence.

No loss of face. I am still intrigued as to what this might be.

I remember one time a fellow brought a small sample of timber in to th Woodturners' Society of Queensland. All sorts of debate ensued. and we all settled on a species of Acacia. Then some one sniffed it. Sandalwood!!!

TTIT
9th September 2009, 12:25 PM
Leaves look about right too DrBob!

IanW
9th September 2009, 09:34 PM
from the pics provided I'm still voting for Albizia albeck but we will be able to tell more when the next set of pics come out.

RP - did you mean A. lebbeck? If so, I think you & TTIT share the black jellybean. In an attempt to redeem myself, I got my botanist friend to help me, & he very quickly & confidently identified the tree I mistakenly called Tipuana as Albizia lebbeck. It was definitely one of these I saw cut down, & both the bark & cut section matched doctorbobski's pics very well. Here are a couple of shots of the bark, leaves & seed pods of A. lebbeck, (identified by a professional). This is a Sth. Asian species that has ben widely planted in Qld.

And for comparison, the leaves, bark & winged seeds (samaras) of Tipuana. The leaves are very similar to A. lebbeck, the leaflets are just a bit more oval, but bark & seeds very different!

Damn - wish I had grabbed that nice big butt of Albizia when I had the chance - looked like interesting stuff, but it's all mulch, now.....
Cheers,

DoctorBobski
10th September 2009, 12:15 PM
I think that we have arrived at the culprit. Thanks for everyones help.

quercus
10th September 2009, 10:49 PM
I would say golden elm from the growth habit, the bark, and the fact that it is deciduous along with the dark heart wood.
However, do deciduous elms grow that far north? Also, golden elm tends to grow with a broader, less upright form.

Rum Pig
10th September 2009, 11:35 PM
RP - did you mean A. lebbeck? If so, I think you & TTIT share the black jellybean. Yes I did mean Lebbeck (was in a rush) if it is a black jellybean then TTIT can have it.

Damn - wish I had grabbed that nice big butt of Albizia when I had the chance - looked like interesting stuff, but it's all mulch, now.....
Cheers,


I think that we have arrived at the culprit. Thanks for everyones help.
Now if we are correct and it is Albizia Lebbeck you must be warned that the dust from this tree can be nasty stuff it makes my nose run and sneeze but I know some people it closes the throat and they cannot breath so please wear a good mask or turn in a very well ventilated area with a fan blowing right at you. The club/group that I go to this timber is banned due to the ill effects it causes people.

After saying that I think it a very nice timber to turn and as TTIT showed you can get some fantastic colors and great contrast between sap and hart wood. Also from my experience it does not tend to split much when drying. I never say no to a free piece.
Good luck and take care:2tsup:

artme
11th September 2009, 01:55 AM
Well, there you go. seek and ye shal find, ask and ye shall be answered.:):):)

robbiebgraham
11th September 2009, 06:30 AM
Wait for it to grow its leaves back and it will be much easier to identify. lol

IanW
11th September 2009, 08:44 AM
Wait for it to grow its leaves back and it will be much easier to identify. lol

Bit difficult for it to do that in the state it's in now......
:U

Rumpig - it looks like Albizias take the prize for toxic dust - most other woods seem to affect a proportion of users, while others are ok (e.g. G. robusta). But these things get everyone!?

Cheers,

robbiebgraham
11th September 2009, 12:12 PM
Bit difficult for it to do that in the state it's in now......
:U


Cheers,
Funny you should say that, I had some cut walnut limbs standing up in my back yard and they sprouted and grew some leaves before dieing completely.:o Pretty weird but it did happen. Believe it or not:D

TTIT
11th September 2009, 12:48 PM
Yes I did mean Lebbeck (was in a rush) if it is a black jellybean then TTIT can have it.
Mmmmmmm - love black jelly beans :U


Now if we are correct and it is Albizia Lebbeck you must be warned that the dust from this tree can be nasty stuff it makes my nose run and sneeze but I know some people it closes the throat and they cannot breath so please wear a good mask or turn in a very well ventilated area with a fan blowing right at you. ............Turned a few bowls from it and don't remember any ill effects but I will heed your warning and take care next time - still got mobs of the stuff - common as muck around here :shrug:

Tony Morton
11th September 2009, 05:42 PM
Hi All

re bolivian Rosewood tipuana tipa or pride of bolivia I have some with bark still on see pic. timber pale creamy grey extensively used for polo mallet heads 55000 turned from it in 1 year.

cheers Tony