Tree ID, Idaho Locust?

[bstewert]

I've seen these with pink flowers and white flowers.

 

[DMc]

The Idaho and Black locust are pretty similar with Blacks in the west having white flowers while the Idahos have rose pink flowers. Looks like a fungal brack at the base?

Dave

 

[Old Monkey]

None of them look that good here as they are all under borer attack.

 

[Cobleskill]

We have borer here in NY, but they do fairly well. A bunch have uprooted in the strong wind storms.

 

[bstewert]

Thanks, Dave. I'll take a closer pic of the base just for the heck of it. I thought this was a fairly nice specimen, cuz often I see them in weird shapes. How are they for climbing?

 

[Paul B]

looks like the black locust we have here (Robinia pseudoacaccia)

 

[Treepreacher51]

looks like the black locust we have here (Robinia pseudoacaccia)

+1

The pic you posted doesn't reflect it, but ours have tight crotches with included bark and nasty thorns throughout. Not fun to climb.

 

[Paul B]

I have a cookie from one, seems like damn hard wood too.

 

[stig]

Lovely turning wood.
And it turns green when you smoke it with ammonia.
I've had fun with that.

 

[simplypete]

The thorns are the type to remove pronto. Otherwise your finger will swell rather quickly.

 

[Old Monkey]

That's the on tree I prefer to prune with spurs. The crotches are tight and setting lines can be a pain. Here with the borers, large branches can give away easily. The wood is very hard and pretty.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Wonder if Stehanson turned that locust yet

 

[bstewert]

Dave, here's a closeup. Pretty neat looking one, huh? Reminds me of a lenticular cloud. Check out the neighboring tree about 10' away.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Gnarly tree!!!

 

[Cobleskill]

I have seen groves of medium sized trees that have a real cool wavy look to the trunks. Almost like an abstract painting.

I planted some 20 some years ago. They aren't as windfirm as I thought they were. I have got a couple groves started from young ones popping up. They sucker off roots and grow really fast once the mother tree has some size to it.

 

[stehansen]

Wonder if Stehanson turned that locust yet

I have not. I am trying to be patient and let all the movement be finished. I did a tree for a woodworking guy a while back and I told him about all the trouble I had sanding it. He said to use belt sander belts instead of regular sandpaper, as they are more stronger, which = more better.

 

[Cobleskill]

My bud used to be an abrasive dealer. I ended up with a good variety of sandpaper when he went out. Some belts. Nice to have as it isn't cheap to go get a pack.

 

[DMc]

Dave, here's a closeup. Pretty neat looking one, huh?

Very cool examples of fungal brackets. Unfortunately, I am not very good at identifying these things. The most common on the Robinia is the Phellinus robiniae (rimosus) but the underside of yours is more creamy white and reminds me of the Ganoderma sp. ( G. applanatum )?

In our area with low rain fall these are usually not a big deal on our black locust. Could be quite different in your area. So if these are clients of yours, you might want to get these positively identified along with the potential for failure. The burls are really striking and fortunately not an issue with the health of the tree.

I agree with everyone else, not a pleasant tree to climb. But the wood is very strong and is highly sought after by custom bow makers. It is one of the few woods that can outperform hardrock maple.

Dave

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I have not. I am trying to be patient and let all the movement be finished. I did a tree for a woodworking guy a while back and I told him about all the trouble I had sanding it. He said to use belt sander belts instead of regular sandpaper, as they are more stronger, which = more better.

Ahhhhh I see

You readying to move again?

 

[stig]

Those locust burls are wonderful.
Extremely tight birdeye grain and very hard.
They take an almost glasslike finish.
I've sold many to turners and knifemakers.
And made a lot of bowls from them, of course.

 

[Al Smith]

That bark looks a lot like our black locust which also propigates from the roots .This tree and catalpa were once grown in groves for fence post back in the day wooden posts were used .These two plus osage orange are three of the most rot resistant trees I know of .Locust and osage are two of the best firewood .

 

[gf beranek]

That's beautiful, Stig. You are talented.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

My firs thought was Ganoderma applanatum-artist's conk, but don't know anything about fungal pathogens of locust.

Can you drag a clean finger on the the white underside of the conk and get it to discolor to a brown color?

 

[Burnham]

I thought the same, Sean.

 

[bstewert]

My firs thought was Ganoderma applanatum-artist's conk, but don't know anything about fungal pathogens of locust.

Can you drag a clean finger on the the white underside of the conk and get it to discolor to a brown color?

Yep, and what's weird is it leaves nothing at all on my finger.