Sunday, August 15, 2010

One Huge Burl


In 2005 my family and I vacationed in the Northwest Coast. At the Northern end of Vancouver Island we came to Port McNeill and there, just a short walk from town we found this Sitka Spruce burl on display. It was partially hollow and yes, like Hobbits we crawled inside.

I hope the tree that grew this burl was dead or dying before it was cut. I myself wouldn't have had the heart to cut something so magnificent and ancient were it still growing and healthy. It's estimated that only 1 in 1000 trees create any sort of a burl...I would say this burl was one in a billion.

3 comments:

  1. Hobbits: possessed with a genetic predisposition towards crawling inside enormous pieces of rotting tree-tumors?

    ReplyDelete
  2. My dear dernhelm,
    I sense a bit of aggravated astonishment at my suggestion of burl burrowing Hobbits. I assure you, I meant no slight to thier kind. I am as fond of Hobbits as I am of burl.

    ReplyDelete
  3. that is amazing. It also helps me understand where people were able to chisel out a burl bowl the size of 36 x 30 x 12 inches. My burl bowl is massive. This is the first time I've seen the burl piece like this. wish I knew what kind of wood my bowl is. thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete