Help with tree ID - could it be rhododendron? Weird bark...

[doggonemess]

Hey guys, I need some help. I've tried everything to ID this tree, and it's a weird one. The bark looks like yew, but it has leaves (in the middle of February). The form is twisted and gnarly, and very thick relative to the height. There were lots of these around, none taller than 10 feet or so. Most of them were dead, as well. The wood is HARD and dense, I figure it might make an awesome bow. I just want to know what the heck it is.

From what I've read and seen, it looks like it might be Rosebay Rhododendron, but I'm not sure. At first I thought it was Live Oak, but it doesn't seem to match the pictures I saw online.

See pics! Thanks!






This bark image is a little bleached out, the actual bark is more brown, with red tones underneath.

[doggonemess]

Although, it looks a lot like Mountain Laurel. I found images of the leaves that even have the same disease spots:



The wood looks remarkably similar, too. Check out this awesome project:

[blackhawk]

Looks like ya already id'ed it....yup that's mountain  laurel....I've been wanting to make a bow from one,but it can be hard to find a semi suitable tree for a bow...I have made a bow from rosebay rhododendron ....one of these days ill come across one that useable.....or pat will find one for me..lol.

[Pat B]

That is mountain laural(Kalmia latifolia).
  I'm bringing some for you to the Classic. Chris. You'll just have to be patienbt! 

[PEARL DRUMS]

Chris...patient? Huh?

[blackhawk]

When I looked thru thousands of rhododendrons to only find a few that could possibly work,I found out looking for straight was impossible....so I had to envision how the string would lay down the bow no matter how snakey the wood was...but be careful to watch the bark as it likes to spiral a lot. Its not easy crawling(literally)thru laurel thickets trying to find bow wood and have enough space to look a tree over...you might end up finding yourself in a twisted mess in a twisted mess of trees...lol   pat if ya go missing we know where to start looking for ya   but we might have a hard time finding ya...lol. a lot of hikers/hunters get seriously lost in laurel thickets..no joke.

In alot more patient than you squirrelly pearly 

[Pat B]

The old timers around here call those Ivy Hells(Ivy is what they call Mt Laurel). When they were surveying the new state line between NC and Tenn many years ago the ivy hells were so thick the surveyers layed planks over the top of the thickets so they could get to the other side. 

[doggonemess]

We don't have any thickets where I am, or at least I haven't seen them. I found a very good tree without anything growing around it:


(This photo has been altered to make the mt laurel easier to see.)

It's nice and dead, already dry, and still standing on its own. I think it might make a nice bow!

j.

[trad bow]

it looks like rhododendrons but it depends on where you are from. We have sweet bay(Magnolia} down here in the swamps that looks just like that with the same leaf pattern. May have to cut some and try it as the first several feet usually has no limbs.

[Pat B]

Those leaf spots(fungal) are very common on Mt laural around here.

[trad bow]

Yep those leaf spots are common on the sweet bay around here. I have relatives in NC around the Murphy area, more precisely Hanging Dog NC.  The similarities between the two species look vey close to each other. Leaf spot fungi on Magnoili is a common problem around here.

[blackhawk]

Seeing how you live on Maryland it is definitely mountain laurel....and I of all people am having a hard time seeing a bow in that one....and if its been dead for awhile I wouldn't try it or waste my time with it seeing how nasty it is...if it was straighter and needed no corrections then maybe...but I wood cut into the wood up above or below the intended bow to be and see if the wood is still sound or decomposing ....just cus its still standing doesn't mean its still ok...that tree died for a reason from something

[Pat B]

Chris, I have a laural stave(?) or two picked out and will cut them today. I'll post pics when I do.
  TradBow, Sweetbay magnolia(aka laurel or swamp magnolia) is a true magnolia in the Magnoliaceae family and rhodendrons are in the Ericacaea family. Even though their leaves look similar and they both get leaf spot fungus they are not related to my knowledge. Mt Laurel(Kalmia latafolia) is also in the Ericacaea family.