Ever heard of twisted trees ?

[wDonkey]

hello great people of the found wood carving.
i was wondering if you guys ever seen such things. around here, because of the wind i guess, some of trees grows turning on themselves. in winter time when im out there its not a rare sight to see a rotten log with this kind of pattern. i'll try to collect some pieces to show you next time i go out in the wild, but in the meantime, do you guys have any idea what could be made out of such things ?

its quite hard to tell what specie it is since you cant really see its twisted until the bark is off. ill try to figure that out. theres not so many species arround here so it should be easy to figure out!

[Dan Wegiel]

Sounds interesting, looking forward to seeing some pics of the wood and what you create.

Dan

[Sharon of the Dell]

We have twisted trees and people here near the coast. I think the wind probably has something to do with the twisted trees, something different for the people!
If you get lots of snow, that would probably do it also and might just be the species or nature of the tree.
Have fun carving it and post pictures!

[wDonkey]

After talking with scientists at the local research center, they told me the tree specie that has this behavior is the Larch. when its isolated from other tree and at the wind's mercy.

[mobjack68]

Where I am located....Virginia, trees along my riverbank are affected by honeysuckle vines. They grow up the tree, winding themselves around the trunk and as the tree grows, the tree "overgrows" the vines, causing what looks like a twisted tree. Lots of carving opportunities with that kind of growth....

[Robson Valley]

Here in BC, most trees with spiral grain are big & old pines. Not just wind-twisted but likely genetic. Some trees will twist after exposure at the edge of a logging cut block. Thanks to the Mountain Pine Beetle, we don't have much pine to talk about any more. But after the bark falls off the standing trees, there are many more with spiral grain that I would have imagined.
Krumholtz goes every which way in the constant winds up at the tree line. Depending on the slope & aspect, maybe 5,000 - 6,000'