Lignaterrae

Do you know from which country the crate originated, it would help narrow it down. There are thousands of crates coming into the country carrying slabs of Indian sandstone and they contain interesting wood species. Mainly plantation-grown red gum but Indian native stuff as well. Chickrassy is one of them but agreed Steve, this doesn’t look like it ; texture looks too coarse and its smell of onions is unmistakable.

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Consider also Eucalyptus dalrympleana, it is quite hardy in the U.K. and from the specimens I’ve seen, produces excellent long, straight stems.

I've seen irregular 'heartwood' like that in rowan before and heard it referred to as 'flower' figure. I reckon it's caused by fungus, especially honey fungus, but it turns a dull white timber into something rather special.

A few obscure ones; Stagshorn sumac smells of sweet lemonade Ebony smells of gunpowder Olive smells of salad dressing Teak smells of leather Mulberry smells of fruit salad Dabema smells of the pig pen. Brazilian mahogany (old growth) smells of prawn cocktail crisps. (seriously !!) Many tropical acacias smell of raspberries. Smells are very subjective, individual to that person and difficult to express in words that mean something to others but they can be a great tool in identifying wood

I had my greatest success sealing the ends with bitumen - it's just what I had at the time. The logs were stored in the attic of an outbuilding that was dark but draughty. Left for 4 years and they were then nicely dry and virtually crack-free. Mind you, those were 4' diameter, not 8" ...

Boxwood branches 8" diameter are more than fair sized, they're huge! As Steve says, leave as logs with bark on, thickly seal the end grain and leave to dry in a cool dark place. You'll need to be patient though, box dries very, very slowly. It's normal for box to develop a single large split lengthways during the process but that still leaves you two very useable half-logs.

Beautiful looking wood, needs to be used! Really on the trail of this now. Everything is pointing to a member of the Anarardiacaea family. Eliminating tropical and evergreen species I think it's Toxicodendron vernix from North America, known as Poison Sumac or Thunderwood. Opinions welcome. Whereabouts are you in the country Shillo?

A really intriguing one. Definitely not Ailanthus (leaflets not notched at the base) nor Sumac, the tree is far too big for Sumac. Maybe a species of Hickory, possibly Red Hickory, Carya ovalis, but confidence is not high.

Let the fruits ripen to the point of being very soft (around mid October), scoop the flesh out of the skin. Looks like dog crap but it's the most delicious thing you'll ever taste.

It's exactly that species Steve and what lovely wood it is. I'm not over there at the minute but a Spanish friend sent the pic. Going over next Easter, we'll be looking to cut some then and mail it back to myself. You'll be getting some too of course!

A. farnesiana is bang on, thanks all. It’s a long way from its natural home, just shows how adaptable acacias can be.

Leaves don't match and Gleditsia's pods are much flatter (and longer!). Spines seem to be in pairs, Gledistia's in threes. I initially thought Acacia too Steve but in that genus the pods tend to be 'pinched' between the seeds but Acacia is the best shout so far.

This one has me stumped. Growing Murcia, SE Spain. The leaves suggest Albizia but the fat pods are a puzzle. Nasty set of spines too. Can anyone help?

Podocarpus theory blown!! Sure looks like Hippophae salicifolia