Wood ID - plum, damson?

[nev]

Neighbour thinks there was plum type fruit on this tree - is it plum or damson?
and should i raid his firewood pile? :twisted:

 

[marcros]

both plum and damson are attractive timbers. I would get raiding.

 

[Kalimna]

From the bark, it looks more like a cherry than a plum/damson. The two damson trees I have in my garden have a different bark, and many spikes (look like very small, straight branchlets) coming from both branches and trunk. And from what I can remember, the plum trees look like they have a different bark also.
Having said that, it looks like rather nicely coloured, so raid the pile anyway

Adam

 

[Neil Farrer]

Cherry!

Plum/Damson Plum doesn't have the horizontal lenticels that are shown on the bark.

 

[woodyturner]

My thoughts exactly Cherry but what the heck it looks a nice bit of wood I would definitely raid his wood pile

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Cherry. Nice word, lenticel - didn't know it.

 

[12345Peter]

Neighbour thinks there was plum type fruit on this tree - is it plum or damson?
and should i raid his firewood pile? :twisted:

The bark and colouring look exactly the same as the cherry I have just acquired.

Regards

 

[dickm]

FWIW, plums, cherries, damsons and hawthorn are all different species of Prunus, and they hybridise pretty promiscuously, so it's difficult to be categorical about identification. But as others have said, those horizontal lenticels are more often found in the cherry end of the family. The great thing is that most of the different species make excellent, dense, turning timber, often with interesting colouring. Well worth a raid, but from experience, they can all be devils to season.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Hawthorn is of the genus crataegus, not prunus.

 

[woodyturner]

FWIW, , but from experience, they can all be devils to season.

Turn it wet and you will be in for a real treat with shavings flying over your shoulder I have added a few pic's of cherry turned wet hope you dont mind

 

[nev]

I thought it looked like cherry, but he insists there were plums growing on it!?!?
maybe they were really big black cherries

 

[KimG]

At least as far as flowering Cherry goes, it smells really strongly of Cherries or Cherry pie, dunno about the fruiting variety, but I was recently given some small logs very similar to these but with no distinct smell and my first thought was Plum too, plus the flowering cherry has colour that extends through the sapwood some as well and the heartwood isn't so distinctly defined (at least, the half dozen trees I have felled fit this description anyway) So unless there is indeed a difference between flowering and fruiting Cherry I would say it is something else.

 

[dickm]

Hawthorn is of the genus crataegus, not prunus.

Ooops. Meant to say BLACKthorn. Prunus spinosa.

Moral - read posts carefully before hitting "submit"

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No one's mentioned a bullace, which is smaller than a damson but larger than a sloe.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

dickm - sorry to be pedantic! I can't help it.