Osage?

[justsomedude]

Pardon my ignorance...but if it doesn't have fruit and the standard mature bark, I'm not sure.
There's 9' of 5" diameter offshoot that would be really easy to cut

[osage outlaw]

The split trunk tree in the middle looks like osage.  The smaller one in front does not.  It's easy to tell as soon as you cut into them.  Looks like you might have some cool holey staves in there.

[justsomedude]

I have found 4 of these so far (back yard). But that one in front right is the straight piece I am eyeing. The big split one is yellow inside (broke a dead branch) and the bark has that glow...I have looked up pictures of Osage bark online and it changes so mush as it matures I couldn't tell.

[osage outlaw]

That front one looks like it might be a young ash tree.  It's hard to tell just from the bark. 

[PatM]

Beware of trees that appear conjoined but are actually two separate species.  That really does look like what happened here.

[BowEd]

Yes I get that going on here too with osage and red elm.Right next to each other.

[Selfbowman]

Looks like they come out of the same trunk to me then split. The larger front one if Osage . I would take a split off the side or back side of the rotten area. Arvin

[Stringman]

If the front right trunk has small thorny branches coming out of it, it's Osage.

[justsomedude]

I'm going back out with some pruners (some of the Osage is buried in thorns and underbrush )so I can get a better look at the other ones too.

[mikekeswick]

If you were in England the front one is Elder.....but you aren't and I have no idea

[RidgeRunner]

There is a lot of Osage in the Nashville Tn. area.  The Zoo is covered in the stuff.
That forked tree in the back looks like Osage to me.   Cut It.

If you live in Nashville Tn.... You need to find your way up to Pappy's Place.

David

[Springbuck]

 Yeah, look for the thorns.

But, hey, in this case the tree that may not be osage looks pretty straight and healthy.  If there isn't a reason you can see NOT to cut it, by all means.... worst case scenario is you have to make some ash bows.  Darn.

[justsomedude]

I will cut that front tree. If anything, it is going to kill the Osage. I have never split staves before so I need a good practice piece.
Now that I am looking more closely I have found a few more. One of them is pretty straight and about 10"

[Jim Davis]

I have cut Osage that looked like the small left tree and the center one. You mentioned one of the easiest ways to tell--cut or break a branch. Dead Osage branches hang on a long time and are very hard to break, compared to other trees.

The Osage I have access to has several different looks to the bark and  seems to be related to age and rate of growth. Two big trees can look very different if one grew fast and the other slow.

If they are your trees, cut them. Thinning the woods is usually a good thing even if you don't get bow wood.

[justsomedude]

Is a bent piece like this usable? About 6' to the big bend/knot.
I just don't know how picky we are with Osage.