Rex Trulove
People who work with wood or heat with wood have probably heard the terms “hardwood” and “softwood”, but most people really don’t know what is meant by these terms.
Oak and maple are examples of hardwood, while pine and fir are examples of softwood. However, the hardness of the wood has little to do with it, despite what the words imply. It also has little to do with how dense the wood is, which isn’t quite the same thing as its hardness.
This can be a little confusing because oak and maple are considerably denser than pine and fir. That is, the plant cells are smaller and closer together. It is primarily density that makes both oak and maple heavier than either pine or fir. It is also due to the density that pine and fir burn faster than oak or maple.
The easiest way to see that this doesn’t have much to do in regard to whether a kind of wood is softwood or hardwood is to name another hardwood; balsa. Balsa has incredibly light wood that is soft and not very dense. This South American tree is used for such things as airplanes and model airplanes due to its extremely light weight and ease in working the wood. Yet, balsa is technically a hardwood.
Just looking at the wood it is easy to see that it has more in common with pine wood and fir wood than with oak wood or maple wood. That is perhaps the most confusing part of all. “Hardwood” and “softwood” isn’t defined by the wood. These are defined by the leaves and seeds. That sounds baffling, doesn’t it?
Put in a different way, hardwoods are woods that come from broad-leafed trees. Softwoods come from narrow-leafed or needle-leafed trees. These latter are usually conifers or cone bearing trees, but there are exceptions. Nearly all softwoods have needles or bracts for leaves. Cedar, redwood, hemlock, alder, and juniper are all also softwoods, though alder has leaves and not needles.
Hardwoods have regular leaves and don’t produce cones, they produce flowers and seeds that aren’t enclosed in a cone. Most kinds of trees are hardwoods, though the wood is often not actually hard. In other words, and confusing things a little more, there is a difference between a hardwood and hard wood (notice the space between the words).
It actually doesn’t need to be confusing at all, though. If a tree produces a cone, it is a softwood. If it doesn’t, it is a hardwood.
Thank you. The picture is a firewood pile we had about 5 years ago. Most of the people here in this town in Montana heat with firewood. Unfortunately, we also have a 13,000 + acre forest fire a few miles from town, so a huge amount of very good timber is burning up. By the time the fire is out, it won’t be good for anything.
Thankfully, not all of the timber is on fire. Still, over 900,000 acres are burning in the state. Where they can, they’ll replant, but it will take 45-55 years for the trees to get large enough to harvest.
Interesting. Probably those who defined the hardwood and softwood thought that all trees that have broad leaves are hardwood and the rest are softwood. (Did I get it right, or it’s the other way around.)
Here in our place though, to avoid confusion perhaps, carpenters would refer to “good lumber” if they need some tough wood. Not only they consider what type of wood but also the maturity of the wood.
You did get it right and you are probably right. Right where I’m at, lumber is sold by grade and kind. A person doesn’t go in and say that they want some softwood, they specify pine, fir, or whatever. Pine is easily the best selling lumber here for buildings, houses, sheds, and such. However, how mature the trees were and how they were treated between felling, sawing, and market has to do with how expensive they are. For example, when I built our chicken coop, I used pressure treated 4×4 posts. The posts are pine, but pressure treating makes them very hard and resistant to weathering.
Very nice and interesting post!
Thank you!
nice…
As I recall, the wood has a level in its hardness. I know little about wood because of the interior design education background, but about that level I know when in contact with motivation training, where the participants must walk on burning charcoal. in this case, the charcoal used should be softwood with a certain level of hard.
Yes, wood does have levels of hardness. That is the difference between “hardwood” and “hard wood”, though. In interior design, you might be aware of how some companies might sell ‘hard wood flooring’, for example. That would mean that the level of hardness is high. But it doesn’t mean that it is actually hardwood flooring. That space makes a big difference. lol
You are right, Rex. Thanks.
Thanks for the explanation, Rex. Is there also a distinction based on how long a tree takes to reach maturity? Typically, a tree such as English oak takes centuries to become fully grown but a pine or Douglas may only take 50, hence the use of the latter in timber plantations for the benefit mainly of the building industry.
In regard to softwood vs. hardwood, age to maturity isn’t counted. Poplar, for instance, is a broad-leaf tree that would be a hardwood. However, it is also exceptionally fast growing and will actually outgrow pine and fir. English oak is indeed a slow-growing tree. Many hardwoods are exceptionally slow-growing. Some of the oldest trees are softwoods, though. For instance, Bristlecone pine can live thousands of years. I’m not sure how long it takes Bristlecone pine to reach maturity, though. I suspect that it is similar to other pines; >100 years.