Blue tint to wood

[darrellkansas]

I live in Kansas and get free wood where/when I can.I had a guy tell me he has some Hackberry ( sugarberry), the bark is some what close but not quite...he does have some very obvious HB growing in yard but wont let me cut it down.
I went and picked up a few small logs and some had split off when he cut it down...inside has a blue tint.
The bark is similar,the wood is bright white and is hard enough to throw sparks when cutting just like HB normally will do.When I split it its white and I dont see a tint of blue.
After professional advise on what I have.

 

[SMOKE FREAK]

I had some hackberry...
Could not split it with an axe...Too f-ing hard...

 

[effinUker]

Sounds like it is hackberry:

"Unless harvested in winter when the sap is down, hackberry has the tendency to develop a bluish-gray stain. And, says our source, you might not notice it on the surface of rough-sawn stock until planing. But, the stain does not harm the wood in any way, and like the varying hues in yellow poplar, it does have its own appeal."

source: https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/wood-species-2/hackberry

I'd like to try it. I'm gonna talk to the city forester and see if he'll grab me a branch the next time they're working on a hackberry tree.

 

[darrellkansas]

I finally got it figured out.
What I picked up last night is a yellow or white popular and it has a fungus, so it is away from my smoking wood on the other side of my yard.
I have been using Hackberry for years and its bark is different,I guess I was just wishing.
Poplar can be used but it will not burn hot,burns up really fast and has a very neutral smoke...it is now fire pit wood.

Here is Hackberry which is all over Kansas.

 

[darrellkansas]

Sounds like it is hackberry:

"Unless harvested in winter when the sap is down, hackberry has the tendency to develop a bluish-gray stain. And, says our source, you might not notice it on the surface of rough-sawn stock until planing. But, the stain does not harm the wood in any way, and like the varying hues in yellow poplar, it does have its own appeal."

source: https://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/lumber/wood-species-2/hackberry

I'd like to try it. I'm gonna talk to the city forester and see if he'll grab me a branch the next time they're working on a hackberry tree.

In Kansas it is common Hackberry,in Southern states it is called sugarberry and I have even heard it called stinkberry. You will find people that say you cannot use it but I have honestly been using it for years since it is common to my state. My son is getting into smoking and he said "no it can give you a stomach ache" imagine his surprise when I told him that just about every chunk of smoked meat that he has been eating off my smoker for 20+ years was done with Hackberry :doh:.
Here is a piece from a tree I cut down in my sisters back yard about a month ago