weird tree bark

[aznboi3644]

I was tree hunting today and found a really straight 8 inch trunk with no branches for atleast 20 feet.

I did a search for native trees to Indiana and couldnt ID the tree.

The bark is very very dark brown hint of purple in it.  And the texture is very much like dragon scales not like normal tree bark at all.

It stands out from the other trees pretty well.

Any ideas?? 

[Lombard]

How about a photo of the tree, and of the bark. That would be sure to get you some quick responses.

[Hillbilly]

Try persimmon.

[jthompson1995]

Try persimmon.

What he said.

[aznboi3644]

yup...that is it.  Found a pic of it and it is the dragon tree I saw lol

Is this a good bow wood??

I found a few of these tress that have straight trunks with no branches...probably 8 staves a tree.



One thing about the trees is that they are about 40 feet tall...its gonna be fun cutting one down

[Hillbilly]

Persimmon is pretty good bow wood. It often has a spiral grain, though-even in straight trunks.

[Pat B]

You can see in the pic above how the vertical grooves in that bark spiral slightly around the trunk. The wood will mirror that. Like Hillbilly said even with a straight trunk you have to pay attention to the bark also.
  I have a nice stave of persimmon that Hillbilly gave me. Ought to be just about ready to make a bow. I wonder when I will! 

[Hillbilly]

Pat, I haven't made one out of mine yet, either. For that matter, I haven't made anything out of anything lately. I need a clone to go to work for me so I can work on bows.

[sailordad]

Pat, I haven't made one out of mine yet, either. For that matter, I haven't made anything out of anything lately. I need a clone to go to work for me so I can work on bows.

dont we all

[Pat B]

My bow bench is still in the barn from the Camp-O-Rama.   It's been a year since I've made a bow...and it blew up! 

[Bob Barnes]

alligator bark... and around here the web worms hit the trees pretty hard too... leave some of them because they sure are a favorite visiting place for the local wildlife...deer included. 
Bob

[Pat B]

There are both male and female persimmons so try to leave a few of each around so you have wood and wildlife food available. Unfortunately you won't be able to tell the difference until they fruit.

[aznboi3644]

is there a difference in the wood characteristics between the male and female??

I plan on only cutting down one as there are about 5 or 6 of them along the creek

[Hillbilly]

As far as I know, there is no difference in the wood. The vast majority of persimmon trees are  males, seems like there are fifteen-twenty male trees for every female.