Hickory tree with mistletoe ?

[damascusmaker]

Hi all, I just dropped a big hickory tree, while cutting the small limbs for smoker wood I began to wonder if it is safe to use for smoker chunks. The pieces with active growing mistletoe will be discarded or burned in my wood stove. Just would like confirmation the wood isn't contaminated before continuing to make all those cuts?

 

[damascusmaker]

Here are some photos. Most of the places where the mistletoe is growing are swollen. Also wondering about the pink lichen?

 

[damascusmaker]

I left a piece of this hickory with the parasite living on it with our county extension office this week. The gentleman indicated he didn't know the answer to my question about how far the contamination goes but would send the piece or a photo to their lab at University of Tennessee and we should have an answer next week. Oddly enough he seemed more concerned about the mistletoe not looking healthy than if it would give off poison smoke.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

My thoughts are that mistletoe is a surface parasite and any part of the host tree that doesn't have active growth should be good for smoking. Since it will live on many different trees and gets its complete nutrition from the host tree, I would guess that as long as there's no visible growth, it should be fine for smoking and once the tree is cut down, the mistletoe will die anyway. BUT, I'm just thinking out loud. Regardless, I would smoke with any wood that doesn't have visible signs of it...

My 2¢...

 

[damascusmaker]

Thanks GonnaSmoke, That's my opinion as well, but I'm no expert. And appreciate your opinion.
Seems like if it is a serious issue someone here would heard of it before. After all if we bought wood for smoking there would be no indication a parasite has been growing on the tree it came from. On the other hand I've never seen mistletoe on a hickory, usually in oaks around here. I just want to be viglant about making my family or friends sick.

 

[mike243]

It is barely attached to the tree most of the time it falls off when touched or the tree falls hard, looks like a maple tree from my little screen, are there nuts under the tree? folks sell it around here at the little country stores and a lot of it has holes from the shotgun lol, the professionals use a 22

 

[damascusmaker]

Thanks Mike, Yeah, we've been on this place 39 years and every year it has small hickory nuts. Around here they are called "Scaly Bark Hickory". Yeah those limb photos do look like maple. If I had a photo of the trunk it would be obvious it's a hickory. This was the only hickory on my place. The squirrels get most of them and the nuts are so small that it takes a lot of cracking to get a good taste, I gave up on trying to eat them years ago. Speaking of cracking nuts some might enjoy this nutcracker I found at a local flea-market some years back. Wonderful for black walnuts. .

 

[damascusmaker]

Thanks Mike, Yeah, we've been on this place 39 years and every year it has small hickory nuts. Around here they are called "Scaly Bark Hickory". Yeah those limb photos do look like maple. If I had a photo of the trunk it would be obvious it's a hickory. This was the only hickory on my place. The squirrels get most of them and the nuts are so small that it takes a lot of cracking to get a good taste, I gave up on trying to eat them years ago. Speaking of cracking nuts some might enjoy this nutcracker I found at a local flea-market some years back. Wonderful for black walnuts. .

Update: I did hear back from the UT Lab, they said it is fine for cooking but not the swollen areas. As I continue to work the wood I'm beginning to see that it is easy to recognize the contaminated areas. Even well away from the galls. Here are some photos. The first two photos are on a straight piece of 18" firewood one end is clear the other end has the tell-tale spot off center and the last photo is a severely contaminated piece cut near a damaged area. In the second shot you can see the heart wood is darker and the dark brown off center spot is contamination in my opinion.