Another tree ID

Let's start.

I have three trees in mind.

One is used in a lot of city landscapes, one is an odd ball in my home state within a species that normally has more lobes per leaf and the third is used to make tea but often has oval or mitten leaves too.

So...hints

Is this an American tree?

Is it eastern or western?

Is the leaf dull or shiney?

Re: Thanks, Gary

One is used in a lot of city landscapes, one is an odd ball in my home state within a species that normally has more lobes per leaf and the third is used to make tea but often has oval or mitten leaves too. YOU ARE CORRECT THAT SASSAFRAS HAS THE THREE MAIN VEIN, BUT THAT NOT THE TREE I'M THINKING OF.

So...hints

Is this an American tree? WHY SURE

Is it eastern or western? EAST

Is the leaf dull or shiney? I'LL GO WITH DULL, MY REFERENCE BOOK DOES NOT CALL IT EITHER.

MY HINT: TWIGS ARE RELEATIVELY SMALL IN DIAMETER.

Re: Another tree ID

I appraoched this by thinking about all the trees I can Id by looking at them at a distance, then looking up there leaves. The only thing I can come up with is one that has a sweet cousin. And, I can only ID it when there's a nice breeze in the summer, turning the leaves up.

Re: Sweet cousin....

sounds real close. Care to nail it, warts and all, : ' >...Thanks for playing...Dale

Re: Sweet cousin....

Closest I can come is Silver maple with three veins.

Re: Not silver but,

there's a hint in my post before this one.

Thanks for playing,

Dale

Re: Not silver but,

Dale,

Haven't guessed the trivia answer before. Do I post here or just email you. I think Black Maple if it has to have a sweet cousin (sugar maple).

Dave

Re: Not silver but,

I'm with Dave. The other Raiders color. Bright red in the fall. Looks like a sycamore.

Re: Not silver but,

Welcome to the trivia board Dave. It is all in fun. Answers are posted here for all to see;-) There is a bit of info in the FAQ about the Trivia board that might be of interest to you. You can also read the questions about the box and "rule 32". This whole board is for fun and many things are tongue in cheek. Please make yourself at home and be a regular.

Re: To the box . . .

My apologies to all . . .

(In my best grew up near Windsor, Canada accent) Would Grant Fuhr when he played for Toronto have been an acceptable hint, eh? ;)

Dave

Re: Welcome Dave. HINT

One thing, you need to learn the players of trivia. Some of us may not catch your hint. I played sports as a youngin but have not taken to TV sports since, 1960's. I will often intentional drive my youngest son (a sport's fan) nuts by asking him during a football game, what inning are they in, : ' >. I think your hint goes to sugar maple ?? That's not the answer I'm looking for.

The tree I'm dropping hints on has a white~pale yellow wood, if dried correctly.

Dale

Re: Thanks Gary, but see HINT above

Thanks for playing,

Dale

Re: Another HINT

Got an email from David, I believe. I dropped another hint to him in my reply below.

Not sugar maple or any other maple. The common name has a 'sweet" name by some. My hints point another direction from sycamore.

Thanks for playing.....Dale

Was it sugar maple? Then again American Sycamore has three veins per leaf and you could easily tell that from a distance with its bark, hmmm. . . .

Re: Another HINT

With the sweet clue I've got to venture "Sweet Gum". I confess, it goaded me to a reference. Normally the sweet gum -witch hazels - have five lobed leaves, but according to the reference the Chinese varieties of Sweet Gums (Liquidambar formosan) have three. It's used as a landscape tree in city parks. The wood color varies, but the sapwood is easily on the cream/yellow hue. Let's try "sweetgum".

Sugarberry.

Redheaded first cousin to a hackberry, warts and all.

Or is she the blue-haired old lady?..... never can remember which is which.

Basil

Re: Close enough

I was initially looking for hackberry. Dale S. said something about sweet cousin, sugarberry. Sugarberry and hackberry lumber are both marketed as hackberry and I for one cannot tell the trees apart during the winter months. They both have wart like growth on mature bark and the twigs are small like elms. In fact, hackberry/sugarberry are related to the elms.

Thanks to all for playing.

Basil I'm kinda disappointed in we did not get a six paragraph funny, : ' >.......Dale

Re: Close enough

I was thinking Silver maple all the way. I have lots of Hackberrys here on the farm and there's nothing that distinguishes them to me from a distance. Three veins in a leaf doesn't seem right either, guess I'd better take a better look.

Re: Close enough

Dale,

The three main veins of a hackberry/sugarberry's leaf looks like what folks around here would call a crow's foot. Once you get close enough to the tree to see the bark, the outgrowth of bark, we call warts are a quickie for IDing.

Thanks for playing,

Dale