sourwood?????

[Guest]

I live in the western part of North Carolina, and one of the favorite woods for carving woodspirits is sourwood. It has a fairly heavy bark, with a nice red cast just under the surface of the bark, and carves easily when half-green. I have done some traveling before I started carving, but never noticed sourwood in other parts of the country. Can some of you tell me if this is a local name for this wood, and if so, what is the proper name? I do know the blooms, or tassels in the spring attract honeybees and it sure makes some good honey.

[pyrogite]

Re: sourwood?????

Here are some websites that tell about sourwood.

http://ncnatural.com/wildflwr/fall/sourwood.html

http://www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/web/Species/psourwood.html

http://wildwnc.org/trees/Oxydendrum_arboreum.html