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). Softwood-producing trees include pine, spruce, cedar, fir, larch, douglas-fir, hemlock, cypress, redwood and yew. Cedar wood - photo User:MPF File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Cedar 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 Cedar (disambiguation). ... Artists can use woodworking to create delicate sculptures. ... Timber in storage for later processing at a sawmill roni Lumber or timber is a term used to describe wood, either standing or that has been processed for use — from the time trees are felled, to its end product as a material suitable for industrial use — as structural material for... For other uses, see Wood (disambiguation). ... 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. ... Families Pinaceae, pine family Araucariaceae, araucaria family Podocarpaceae, yellow-wood family Phyllocladaceae Sciadopityaceae, umbrella-pine family Cupressaceae, cypress family Cephalotaxaceae, plum-yew family Taxaceae, yew family The Order Pinales in the Division Pinophyta, Class Pinopsida comprises all the extant conifers. ... For other uses, see Pine (disambiguation). ... Species About 35; see text. ... FIR may stand for: finite impulse response (a property of some digital filters) far infrared, i. ... For other uses, see Larch (disambiguation). ... Species See text. ... Species Eastern Hemlock Carolina Hemlock Taiwan Hemlock Northern Japanese Hemlock Himalayan Hemlock Forrests Hemlock Western Hemlock Mountain Hemlock Southern Japanese Hemlock Tsuga is a genus of conifers in the family Pinaceae. ... Genera Actinostrobus Athrotaxis Austrocedrus Callitris - Cypress-pine Callitropsis - Cypress * (Cupressus) Calocedrus - Incense-cedar Chamaecyparis - Cypress Cryptomeria - Sugi Cunninghamia - Cunninghamia Cupressus - Cypress Diselma - Diselma Fitzroya - Alerce Fokienia - Fujian Cypress Glyptostrobus - Chinese Swamp Cypress Juniperus - Juniper Libocedrus Metasequoia - Dawn Redwood Microbiota - Microbiota Neocallitropsis Papuacedrus * (Libocedrus) Pilgerodendron * (Libocedrus) Platycladus - Chinese Arborvitae Sequoia - Coast... This article is about the species commonly called Coast Redwood. For the species commonly called Giant Sequoia, see Sequoiadendron. ... Genera Taxaceae sensu stricto Taxus Pseudotaxus Austrotaxus — Cephalotaxaceae Torreya Amentotaxus Cephalotaxus The family Taxaceae, commonly called the yew family, includes three genera and about 7 to 12 species of coniferous plants, or in other interpretations (see Classification, below), six genera and about 30 species. ...

Contrary to the name, softwood trees can often be harder than hardwood trees. Douglas fir, a softwood, is harder and stronger than many hardwoods, while balsa, technically a hardwood, is much softer than even most softwoods.^[1] For the e-mail client, see Balsa (e-mail client). ...

The difference between softwood and hardwood is found in the microscopic structure of the wood. Softwood contains only two types of cells, longitudinal wood fibers (or tracheids) and transverse ray cells. Softwoods lack vessel elements for water transport that hardwoods have; these vessels manifest in hardwoods as pores. In softwood water transport within the tree is via the tracheids only. Some softwoods, such as pine, spruce, larch, and Douglas fir, have resin canals, which provide transport of resin as a defense against injury. Tracheids are long tubular cells in the wooden parts of plants. ... A vessel element is an important part of the wood (Xylem) of hardwood plants and is found in all Angiosperms. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

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

In general softwood is easy to work: it forms the bulk of wood used by humans. Softwood has a huge range of uses: it is a prime material for structural building components, but is also found in furniture and other products such as millwork (mouldings, doors, windows). Softwood is also harvested for use in the production of paper, and for various types of board such as MDF. The finer softwoods find many specialty uses. 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. ... Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood For the record label, see Hardwood Records. ... 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... For other uses, see Pine (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Paper (disambiguation). ... 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. ...

Softwood is also known as Clarkwood, Madmanwood, or fuchwood.

See also

• Hardwood
• List of woods
• United States-Canada softwood lumber dispute
• Secondary xylem
• Engineered wood

Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood For the record label, see Hardwood Records. ... This is a list of woods, in particular those commonly used in the timber and lumber trade. ... The United States-Canada softwood lumber dispute is one of the most significant and enduring trade disputes in modern history. ... Secondary xylem is formed by a vascular cambium. ... Engineered wood, also called composite wood, includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding together the strands, particles, fibers, or veneers of wood, together with adhesives, to form composite materials. ...

External links

• CBC Digital Archives – At Loggerheads: The Canada-U.S. Softwood Lumber Dispute