A burl (American English) or burr (British English) is a tree growth in which the

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

that is filled with small

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot may also refer to: Places * Knot, Nancowry, a village in India Archaeology * Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life. * Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot Arts, entertainme ...

from dormant buds. Burl formation is typically a result of some form of stress such as an injury or a viral or fungal infection. Burls yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood sought after in woodworking, and some items may reach high prices on the wood market.

Poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

of burl specimens and damaging the trees in the process poses a problem in some areas.

Description

A burl results from a tree undergoing some form of stress. It may be caused by an injury, virus or fungus. Most burls grow beneath the ground, attached to the roots as a type of

malignancy Malignancy () is the tendency of a medical condition to become progressively worse. Malignancy is most familiar as a characterization of cancer. A ''malignant'' tumor contrasts with a non-cancerous ''benign'' tumor in that a malignancy is not s ...

that is generally not discovered until the tree dies or falls over. Such burls sometimes appear as groups of bulbous protrusions connected by a system of rope-like roots. Almost all burl wood is covered by bark, even if it is underground. Insect infestation and certain types of

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal seco ...

infestation are the most common causes of this condition. In some tree species, burls can grow to great size. The largest, at , occur in coast redwoods (''

Sequoia sempervirens ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...

'') and can engirdle the entire trunk; when moisture is present, these burls can grow new redwood trees. The world's second-largest burls can be found in

Port McNeill, British Columbia Port McNeill is a town in the North Island region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada with a population of 2,356 (2021). Located on Vancouver Island's north-east shore on Queen Charlotte Strait, it was originally a base camp for logger ...

. One of the largest burls known was found around 1984 in the small town of

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...

. It stands tall, with an odd shape resembling a trombone. In January 2009, this burl was controversially removed from its original location, and relocated to a public school in the central New South Wales city of

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

Use

Burls yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood, prized for its beauty and rarity. It is sought after by furniture makers, artists, and wood sculptors. There are a number of well-known types of burls (each from a particular species); these are highly valued and sliced into veneers for furniture,

inlay Inlay covers a range of techniques in sculpture and the decorative arts for inserting pieces of contrasting, often colored materials into depressions in a base object to form Ornament (art), ornament or pictures that normally are flush with th ...

in doors, picture frames, household objects, automobile interior paneling and trim, musical instruments, and

woodturning Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator ...

. The prized "" is not a species of a maple, but wood from a maple's burl (burr). The famous birdseye maple of the sugar maple (''

Acer saccharum ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...

'') superficially resembles burr maple, but it is something else entirely. Burl wood is very hard to work with hand tools or on a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to c ...

, because its grain is twisted and interlocked, causing it to chip and shatter unpredictably. This "wild grain" makes burl wood extremely dense and resistant to splitting, which made it valued for bowls, mallets,

maul A maul may refer to any number of large hammers, including: * War hammer, a medieval weapon * Post maul, a type of sledgehammer * Spike maul, railroad hand tool * Splitting maul, heavy wood-splitting tool resembling both axe and hammer People ...

s and "beetles" or "beadles" for hammering chisels and driving wooden pegs.Sloane, Eric (1973). ''A Museum of Early American Tools''. New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 28–32. .

Poaching

Because of the value of burls, ancient redwoods in national Parks in Western United States have recently been poached by thieves for their burls, including at

Redwood National and State Parks The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park and three state parks, cooperatively managed, located in the United States along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968 ...

. Poachers often cut off the burls from the sides of the trunks using chainsaws, which exposes the tree to infection and disease, or fell the entire tree to steal burls higher up. Because of risk of poaching, Jeff Denny, the state park's redwood coast sector supervisor, encourages those buying burl to inquire where it came from and to ensure it was obtained legally. Legal acquisition methods for burl include trees from private land cleared for new development and from lumber companies with salvage permits.

Gallery

File:doggerel bowl.jpg, A bowl made from a plum tree burl File:Giantburl.jpg, A giant burl near Solduc Falls in

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...

File:Spruce burl at University of Alberta.jpg, A large spruce burl on display at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

File:Burr section on Larch.JPG, A longitudinal section through a larch burl from

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, Scotland File:Broussins sur un cyprès.jpg, Multiple burls on an ancient cypress tree at the

Beijing Temple of Confucius Beijing Temple of Confucius () is the second-largest Confucian temple in China, after the one in Confucius's hometown of Qufu. History The Temple of Confucius in Beijing was built in 1302 during the reign of Temür (Emperor Chengzong) of the Yu ...

in China File:Redwood NP Burl Cut May 2013 (2).jpg, A park ranger inspects a redwood tree illegally cut to obtain a burl,

Redwood National Park The Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) are a complex of one national park and three state parks, cooperatively managed, located in the United States along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park (established 1968 ...

, California File:Spruce Burl trail, Kalaloch Beach, Washington 02.jpg, Burls on Sitka spruces, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA File:Palfauer Wasserlochklamm Ohrwaschlbaum 2012-08 Naturdenkmal 975.jpg, Burl near

Palfau Palfau is a former municipality in the district of Liezen in the Austrian state of Styria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Landl Landl is a municipality in the district of Liezen in the Austrian ...

,
in central Austria File:Quercus-petraea-30-11-2009-001.jpg, Burl on a sessile oak
(''

Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial emble ...

'')
Brohmer Bergen, Germany File:北京中山公园千年古树树瘤.jpg, One of several thousand-year-old

Platycladus ''Platycladus'' is a monotypic genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, ''Platycladus orientalis'', also known as Chinese thuja, Oriental arborvitae, Chinese arborvitae, biota or Orienta ...

with many burls in

Zhongshan Park Zhongshan Park () is a common name for Chinese parks, in honour of Sun Yat-sen, better-known in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan, who is considered by many to be the " Father of modern China". Currently there are more than 40 Zhongshan Parks in China, and ...

, west of

Tian'anmen The Tiananmen (also Tian'anmen (天安门), Tienanmen, T’ien-an Men; ), or the Gate of Heaven-Sent Pacification, is a monumental gate in the city center of Beijing, China, the front gate of the Imperial City of Beijing, located near the ci ...

File:金龜樹 Pithecellobium dulce 20210907092835 01.jpg, Burls ''

Pithecellobium dulce ''Pithecellobium dulce'', commonly known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, monkeypod tree or camachile, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands of Mexico, Central A ...

'' File:雨豆樹 Samanea saman 20210914102518 01.jpg, Burls on hollow trunk, ''

Samanea saman ''Samanea saman'', also sometimes known as the rain tree, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, now in the Mimosoid clade and is native to Central and South America. Its range extends from Mexico south to Peru and Brazil, ...

References

External links

Video footage of tree burrs
Antiques Furniture Trees Wood

Description

Use

Poaching

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links