Well, That’s Petty Burly
Posted by Dustin Horton // March 16, 2025 // Uncategorized
By Craig Vollmer
Ever heard the word “burl” before? It’s a term used in the timber/lumber business and the name given to an unusual wart-like growth on a tree trunk, like the one on the chunk of wood pictured. This forms when an injury occurs or a viral, fungal, or bacterial infection takes place that seizes control of a tree’s metabolism disrupting hormone production in that location.
They don’t form right away and can take several decades to reach even a small size like the one pictured, longer yet to be truly impressive. I saw one in the woods once on a very large birch tree that was over six feet in diameter – it was huge. I wish I had a picture of it, but that was before everyone carried a camera in their pocket.
This growth doesn’t cause any harm to the tree, but the normal straight grain growth that we are familiar with, becomes demented looking something more like a bowl of spaghetti; the grain twisting and turning in all kinds of directions, sometimes peppered with tiny knots from branches that grew from dormant buds that sprout in response to the stress, but didn’t survive.
While the warts we get as humans are ugly and undesirable, these burl growths on trees produce incredible beauty in their wood. The top of this table I built is made with wood sawn from a maple burl and is just stunning. It is truly special; one might even say that it’s pretty burly…or maybe it’s just a pretty burl.
Craig Vollmer owns and operates The 1812 Shoppe – Custom Woodworks located in Marathon, Cortland County where he builds finely crafted furniture, home décor, and novelties from wood.
