Classifying wood as either a hardwood or softwood comes down to its physical structure and makeup and so it is overly simple to think of hardwoods as being hard and durable compared to soft and workable softwoods.
What are some hardwoods.
Wood hardness varies among the hardwood species and some are actually softer than some softwoods.
This guide features 20 of the most abundant and most often used hardwood species.
Hardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods and are often much slower growing as a result.
Hardwoods angiosperms abachi triplochiton scleroxylon acacia acacia sp robinia pseudoacacia african padauk pterocarpus soyauxii afzelia doussi afzelia africana agba tola gossweilerodendron balsamiferum alder alnus black alder alnus glutinosa red alder alnus rubra ash fraxinus black ash fraxinus nigra blue ash fraxinus.
Deciduous perennial plants which are normally leafless for some time during the year.
Hardwood from deciduous species such as oak normally shows annual growth rings but these may be absent in some tropical hardwoods.
In addition to the basics where they grow general description and abundance each hardwood profile includes working.
This happens to be generally true but there are exceptions such as in the cases of wood from yew trees a softwood that is relatively hard and wood from balsa trees a.