Timber identification

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Tazmaniandevil

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Stirling, Scotland
No photos I'm afraid, will try this evening if it stops raining.

A friend dropped off some timber logs 3"-4" in diameter. He picked it up at the side of the road and brought it to me because it was pretty straight. The bark is quite rough, with a spongy layer underneath. The heartwood when freshly cut is a dark puple colour. This extends to around 2/3 of the log, with a pale yellow wood surrounding it.
The grain seems to be quite straight, and fairly close. The spongy layer is very wet, and clogs the chainsaw a bit - and the yellow-ish stuff is very soft. I can't detect much of a smell from it, other than a mustiness from the bark, and spongy sub layer.

Any ideas?
 
Sounds like it might be laburnum that has been exposed to the wet too long and the sap wood has rotted.
 
My vote would not be for Yew or Laburnum! Hows about Macrocarpa, the barks rough, the heartwood deep red, sapwood yellow, all straight as its a relative fast grower.
 
This is the outer bark
PIC_0005-web.jpg

A bit hard to see 'cos it's quite blurry.

This is a fresh cut across the grain
PIC_0006-web.jpg

On second glance, it's less purple and more pink than I first thought.

And this is it with some of the rough edges knocked off
PIC_0007-web.jpg


I hope it keeps the colour when it finishes drying.
 
Just a shot on the wild side, how about wide plum or Damson? looks like a fruit wood to me anyway.
 
On photographic evidence I withdraw the Macrocarpa suggestion!!

I agree it looks like a fruit, bearing in mind it was found beside the road, I think it is probably a wild cherry of some description. Can't see someone planting a cultivated species by the roadside? Bark's a bit different though - I blame the focus!
 
The only thing I've turned with that degree of purple colour is lilac, but it looks too big and the wrong bark for that. Wild plum usually has some pink/purple coloration, and if that's what it is, it's a superb specimen.
 
Certainly not Laburnum as I intimated from the original description of soft sapwood.
 
I don't think Purple heart is native to the British Isles? Looking at the bark, sapwood and heartwood and from experience I would suggest that the Plum/Damson option is a good bet.
 
Could well be a fruit wood. My mate is a delivery driver and picks stuff up at random if he sees it. Looking forward to trying to dry it now without it splitting.
 

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