Yellow Wood?

[Peacock]

One more question --

What kind of tree has bright yellow wood?

I'd never seen anything like it, but some of the logs we split had this bright yellow wood, I swear, almost as yellow as this smilie. It's pretty, actually; I hate to burn it! Wish I could use it for something!

I *think* it's something with thorns. Locust maybe?

[barnyardfun]

Dh is saying maybe Bodark(sp)??

[comfortablynumb]

locust is yellow.

[Peacock]

Wow, that is exactly what this is! I just looked it up -- Bodark = Osage Orange.

My DD and our neighbor girl were playing with "hedge apples" today and I had never heard of a hedge apple. It's an Osage Orange!

Dreadfully bushy, thorny things! We have a bunch in our yard and in the woods behind us. The wood is really striking!

[barnyardfun]

Originally Posted by edayna

Wow, that is exactly what this is! I just looked it up -- Bodark = Osage Orange.

My DD and our neighbor girl were playing with "hedge apples" today and I had never heard of a hedge apple. It's an Osage Orange!

Dreadfully bushy, thorny things! We have a bunch in our yard and in the woods behind us. The wood is really striking!

Glad you found out what it is!! Now I have to go to bed with DH who has a BIG HEAD because he was right!!

[greg273]

Yes, its osage orange, also known as hedge-apple. One of the densest, most rot resistant woods in the world. I've seen 70+ year old fence posts that were solid as a rock on the inside. Not the most picturesque tree in the world, I've got a whole fencerow of them behind my house. Some excellent firewood though. The Natives used to make bows from them.Its native to Texas and Oklahoma, I believe, but has been widely planted and naturalized throughout the midwest/great plains/ohio river valley.
I've even heard the Mayans sought it out as beams in some of their structures, and they are still intact...

[comfortablynumb]

it burns really nice too.

[Peacock]

I've seen reference to using these osage orange fruits to repel insects. Anybody done it? How do you use them? What insects do they work on?

[mainer]

old folks swear they keep out spiders & other insects from your house. i put them in the crawl space -who knows-may be something to it!

[Shadow]

As a wood worker when I first saw the yellow wood I had to make some bowls out of it. Problem is after a time usually just a few months it turns a mud brown and loses all the yellow. Use it for fence post and fire wood but it will not stay yellow long enough to fool with it. Just my experience

[Old John]

My friend when he moved to his new Place was gifted with a
Yellowwood Tree. They are somewhat rare, in Eastern US.
They make a nice shade tree. The wood, especially the heartwood,
has been used by the Native Americans, to die clothing, is ages past.

Here's a link:
http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/...centennial.htm

Osage orange does have a yellowish wood also.
Black locust wood is kind of yellowish green. It's another good wood for posts.
And, the wood of the Tulip Poplar/Yellow Poplar is also yellowish, in hue.
It makes excellent lumber and timbers for building. The timbers to rebuild a famous Covered Bridge, in Indiana were cut from Yellow Poplar.
http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_265233600.html

We have some 60/70 footers of Yellow Poplar trees on our hills.
Have fun.........

[MarleneS]

A woodworking friend of mine uses scraps of wood with interesting grains and colors to make switch plates. There was a gentleman at a local craft show once who made pen and pencil sets from rare woods. Just some ideas on what you can do with a little sample of wood.

Marlene