North Texas Cedar??? and other Trees need help???

[Shooter_G22]

well im at again gentle mena,

   trying to learn and doing as much i can...   i was on my way home today got off really early... and i saw a tree company clearing some area off he side of  Loop 12 /  408  area in Dallas and real close to my house soo i stop and talk to the guys and they said yea they are going to be clearing a big section of land in that area not real big but i'd say bout 15-20 acres... all being cut by chain saw and chiped right there on the spot...  soo i emidaitly asked if there was going to be any bodark or osage trees cut if i could have them he said right away bodarck why wouold you wnat that twisted up thorny crap i have it take it all if you find any out here...

  i walked the place and found none but he had alot of cedar that was going down and almost all the trees he had there he called hackberry...  i went home got my hand saw and went back with a cousin and tried to get some saplings to at least get something out of that spent almost an hour trying to get some prospects...  came home with about 10 saplings...  didnt want toget in there way to much...

but no osage

anyhow i got a few cedar limbd that were ok...

is texas cedar any good for bow wood?

and i took some pics af what the tree guy called hackberry...  to post up later...

anyhelp or advice is appreciated...
 

[Hillbilly]

It may be Eastern red cedar (actually a juniper-Juniperus virginiana), if so, it's pretty good wood. Hackberry is also good bow wood, it's in the elm family. It is usually pretty easy to ID because it has warty bark.

[Shooter_G22]

hillbilly,

   this stuff is kinda warty on the older stuff and still kinda smooth on the saplings but theese trees have theese little woodlooking balls on them would look like berry's but more like weird looking woodlike balls..?  is that right?  i took some picks of the saplings and trees...

[Shooter_G22]

here are the pics of some of the trees little wooden balls on the branches.. are these hackberries???


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[Shooter_G22]

pictures of saplings i took...

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[Shooter_G22]

this is a picture of a nother sapling i took it was not hackberry.. it was a totally differant tree...  it has reall smooth bark that can be peeled right off...

im going to lable it Mysterie-1  or M-1 for referance...   there are several trees lik this in the area but the only one i found there...

can somebody identify this..?

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[Shooter_G22]

this is another sapling i found and took and is differant from what the tree guy said is hackberry the tree guy called it thorn bush wood???

  have no idea what this is either but i going to lable it mystery thorn-2  or (MT-2)

can anybody give me an idea what this could be???



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[Shooter_G22]

here is what i got today with the exception of thee more i had already taking out to shape down with eletric planner to get them close to bow size to dry faster...  what do ya'll thick i should do to prep these for dry'n debark and glue cover ends or shave or carve slose to bow size and then glue ends??? 
there are three cedar limbs in that batch as well on the right

oh this is another tree that was cut by tree service but i didnt grab it but ther was alot of that stuff out there too... i plan to go back for more larger trunks to split into staves.. if this stuff is any good...   its all comming down anyway and just getting chipped soo i would like to try and save some for bow wood if it will be good???



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[M-P]

Hi Shooter,   Jackcrafty has used some Texas cedars.  The trees he used were identified as Ashe junipers.  Much the same working properties as ERC according to him.  You might check his posts.  Definitely bow wood.  Good Luck,  Ron

[Timo]

Hard tell about most, from the pics.(Need close ups) I did see some hackberry in the bunch.(pic 15) The "thornbrush" looks to be honey locust.(pic 18-19) Not sure about the wood like balls. They look like sycamore, but the leaves prove otherwise.The leaves actually look like sweetgum.

[Hillbilly]

It's hard to ID anything from the small pics, but looks like you've definiely got hackberry. The thorny one is either hawthorn or honeylocust, hard to see it. Last one looks like maybe mulberry.

[Talin342]

I believe that most 'hackberries' in north Texas are actually sugarberries (from the same Genus Celtis).  Their fruit should be small and red about the size of a BB, but when you remove the red skin the inside of the berry is a pithy, off-white color.  Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata ) can be differentiated from true hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) by the fruit.  When ripe the fruit of true hackberry trees turn black, sugarberries retain a reddish color when ripe.  Young trees would have very few bark warts on them, but the warts are characterized by a layered appearance much like looking at the edge of a book or stack of paper. 

I would imagine that as a bow would it would behave in a similar fashion as a hackberry. 

I'm in the Dallas area and bow-making and plant ecology are hobbies of mine.  If they haven't cleared the land yet maybe I can help you identify some trees.

If you're looking for good reference, try the book Texas Trees, or any other field guide. 

[Shooter_G22]

talin,
 i sent you a Pm with my cell number im going to go back out ther today and see if i can grab some more wood...  if i have any of the wood that you guys are talking about hony locust, mulbery, elm, hackberry, hawthorn, sycamore, sweet gum...!

all those are bow woods right???    i thought all we had out here in oak cliff Dallas  were oak, cedar an occasional osage.. and i classed all the rest as poplar...  or trash wood... but hay if they are what we are talking about ubove.. then i have seen and read that some of you guys are making real nice bow out of that stuff and i would hate to see good bow wood turn to chips and left there as mulch...

at least not all of it espeacily when i need staves and have none right now...   and this way i can harvest some and get a start on my own stock for next year...
 

[JackCrafty]

In Texas, people call juniper trees "cedars"....so, like M-P said, they are probably Ashe juniper.

All those saplings look like good bow wood.  They might be a little narrow for short bows, but should work OK for longer bows.