Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood

The term hardwood designates wood from broad-leaved (mostly deciduous, but not necessarily, in the case of tropical trees) or angiosperm trees. Hardwood contrasts with softwood, which comes from conifer trees. On average, hardwood is of higher density and hardness than softwood, but there is considerable variation in actual wood hardness in both groups, with a large amount of overlap; some hardwoods (e.g. balsa) are softer than most softwoods, while yew is an example of a hard softwood. Hardwoods have broad leaves and enclosed nuts or seeds such as acorns. They often grow in subtropical regions like Africa and also in Europe and other regions such as Asia. The dominant feature separating hardwoods from softwoods is the presence of pores, or vessels. ^[1] Beech wood - photo User:MPF File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Beech wood - photo User:MPF File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other uses, see Beech (disambiguation). ... Hardwood Records is a Canadian independent record label, owned and operated by singer-songwriter Hayden. ... For other uses, see Wood (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Deciduous (disambiguation). ... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... Despite being fairly hard, cedar is a softwood Softwood is a generic term used in woodworking and the lumber industries for wood from conifers (needle-bearing trees from the order Pinales). ... Orders & Families Cordaitales † Pinales   Pinaceae - Pine family   Araucariaceae - Araucaria family   Podocarpaceae - Yellow-wood family   Sciadopityaceae - Umbrella-pine family   Cupressaceae - Cypress family   Cephalotaxaceae - Plum-yew family   Taxaceae - Yew family Vojnovskyales † Voltziales † The conifers, division Pinophyta, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. ... For the e-mail client, see Balsa (e-mail client). ... Species Taxus baccata - European Yew Taxus brevifolia - Pacific Yew Taxus canadensis - Canadian Yew Taxus chinensis - Chinese Yew Taxus cuspidata - Japanese Yew Taxus floridana - Florida Yew Taxus globosa - Mexican Yew Taxus sumatrana - Sumatran Yew Taxus wallichiana - Himalayan Yew Yews are small coniferous trees or shrubs in the genus Taxus in the... For other uses, see Acorn (disambiguation). ... The subtropics are the zones of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropic zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitude 23. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... A vessel element is an important part of the wood (Xylem) of hardwood plants and is found in all Angiosperms. ...

SEM images showing the presence of pores in hardwoods (Oak, top) and absence in softwoods (Pine, bottom)

Hardwood species are more varied than softwood. There are about a hundred times as many hardwood species as softwoods. The vessels may show considerable variation in size, shape of perforation plates (simple, scalariform, reticulate, foraminate), and structure of cell wall (e.g. spiral thickenings). Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 395 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (640 × 970 pixel, file size: 665 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 395 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (640 × 970 pixel, file size: 665 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... SEM Cambridge S150 at Geological Institute, University Kiel, 1980 SEM opened sample chamber The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope capable of producing high-resolution images of a sample surface. ... Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus (from Latin oak tree), which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably... Despite being fairly hard, cedar is a softwood Softwood is a generic term used in woodworking and the lumber industries for wood from conifers (needle-bearing trees from the order Pinales). ... Subgenera Subgenus Strobus Subgenus Ducampopinus Subgenus Pinus See Pinus classification for complete taxonomy to species level. ... A vessel element is an important part of the wood (Xylem) of hardwood plants and is found in all Angiosperms. ...

Hardwoods are employed in a large range of applications including (but not limited to): construction, furniture, flooring, utensils, etc. For other uses, see Construction (disambiguation). ... For the UK band, see Furniture (band). ... An example of a flooring job Wood flooring is a type of flooring made from the timber of hardwoods, or of spruce or hard pine. ...

Hardwoods are generally more resistant to decay than softwoods when used for exterior work. However, solid hardwood joinery is expensive compared to softwood (in the past, tropical hardwoods were easily available but the supply is now restricted due to sustainability issues) and most "hardwood" doors, for instance, now consist of a thin veneer bonded to medium-density fibreboard (MDF). The Earth Day flag includes a NASA photo. ... In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood, usually thinner than 3 millimetres (1/8 inch), that are usually glued and pressed onto core panels (typically, wood, particle board or medium density fiberboard) to produce flat panels such as doors, tops and side panels for cabinets, parquet floors and... Medium-density fiberboard output in 2005 Medium-density fiberboard (MDF or MDFB) is an engineered wood product formed by breaking down softwood into wood fibers, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and resin, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure. ...

See also

Wood flooring An example of a flooring job Wood flooring is a type of flooring made from the timber of hardwoods, or of spruce or hard pine. ...

References

1. ^ CRC Handbook of Materials Science, Vol IV, pg 15

• Schweingruber, F.H. (1990) Anatomie europäischer Hölzer—Anatomy of European woods. Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald, Schnee und Landscaft, Birmensdorf (Hrsg,). Haupt, Bern und Stuttgart.
• Timonen, Tuuli (2002). Introduction to Microscopic Wood Identification. Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki.
• Wilson, K., and D.J.B. White (1986). The Anatomy of Wood: Its Diversity and variability. Stobart & Son Ltd, London. xx

External links

• Center for Wood Anatomy Research
• Hardwood Information Chart