Hard wood is generally obtained from broad leaves or deciduous trees where as the softwood from trees having needle shaped yes or conifers. The major differences between hard wood and soft wood are given as under
- The most important distinction between softwoods and hardwoods is that almost all hardwoods contain a type of cell called a vessel element.
- Vessel elements are similar to segments of small pipes that run throughout the tree in the longitudinal direction, connecting the top of the tree with the root system.
- A collection of vessel elements joined end-to-end is known as a vessel.
- Vessels can be readily seen on the cross-sectional surface of any hardwood species, where they appear as holes (pores); hardwoods are hence frequently known colloquially as porous woods (or porous species).
- The observation of vessels (pores) on a cross-section is the determining factor in deciding that an unknown sample is a hardwood and not a softwood.
- Softwood and hardwood trees are made up of different types of cells. With just a little magnification, it’s easy to see that softwood growth rings look different from hardwood growth rings.
- Additionally, growth rings don’t look the same for all of the trees, and the growth ring appearance is one of the things we will look at to identify wood