Jenny, I thought Lignum vitae was the hardest wood, it sinks in water it is so dense, it grows in the tropics. I had a piece from San Salvador Island when I was doing research on stromatolites for my advisor in graduate school. I believe there is an old law on the books regarding either Lignum vitae or Carpinus (not striking your family member with anything that hard!).
In Masschusetts I would assume it is "ironwood or musclewood " or Carpinus caroliniana. I know it is the densest wood in New England. Gary Gary A. Beluzo Professor of Environmental Science Division of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Holyoke Community College 303 Homestead Avenue Holyoke, MA 01040 [email protected] 413 552-2445 On Oct 31, 2009, at 10:59 AM, [email protected] wrote: > But it must be called Ironwood for a reason? Is this Carpinus > caroliniana we're talking about - musclewood because the trunk > contours look like muscles? > > Jenny > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Marcboston <[email protected]> > To: ENTSTrees <[email protected]> > Sent: Sat, Oct 31, 2009 9:31 am > Subject: [ENTS] Re: What's the hardest hardwood? > > > Ironwood! (It is probably not even close to being the hardest but I > cannot help myself.) > > On Oct 31, 9:22 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I have never run into a US wood harder than plains grown and > dried > > Osage orange (Maclura). You could start a campfire with the sparks > off > > of a chainsaw when cutting it. > > > > On Oct 30, 8:21 pm, "Edward Frank" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Trivia for wood lovers. There is some hard wood out there, > people. April 11, > 2008 > > > > >http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/ > What_is_the_Hardest_Wood_on_Ear... > > > > > Check out my new Blog: http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ > (andclick on > some of the ads) > > > ENTS, > > > > > Quick question. Is hickory the hardest hardwood?- Hide quoted > text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
