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Botany - Hardwoods and Softwoods
Hardwoods vs Softwoods
You may come across the terminology ‘hardwood’ and ‘softwood’. Here are the main differences between the both!
Softwoods
Typically coming from gymnosperm trees, which are mostly coniferous trees, reproducing from cones. Gymnospermae have ‘naked’ seeds (gymno means ‘naked’, ‘bare’).
Conifers are also commonly found to have needle like leaves (eg. pine leaves are needle like).
The wood on these trees are less dense and are cheaper to obtain.
One example is the white pine (pinus strobus)
Hardwoods
Typically coming from tropical angiosperm trees, some of which bear flowers and are mostly comprised of broadleaved trees. Angiospermae have ‘covered’ seeds (eg. apples, the fruit that ‘covers’ the seeds inside).
The wood on these trees are more dense and therefore more expensive to obtain.
One example is the mahogany (tropical tree naitive to places like the amazon rainforest)