Telling The Difference Between Hardwood And Softwood

Hardwood is typically more expensive than softwood.

Telling the difference between hardwood and softwood.

How to tell the difference between hardwood and softwood the general rule for distinguishing whether a wood is hardwood or softwood is to use the fingernail test. Hardwood has a slower growth rate. Informally trees categorized as hardwoods are usually deciduous meaning they lose their leaves in the autumn. The primary distinction between hardwood and softwood is based on the reproductive biology of the tree species.

With this test you press your fingernail against a piece of wood or scratch it along the wood in a direction parallel to the edge of your fingernail. Softwood is typically less expensive compared to hardwood. Softwoods tend to keep their needles throughout the year. Softwoods are conifers which have needles rather than traditional leaves and retain them through the winter.

Trees with seeds that are enclosed such as within a shell or fruit are categorized as hardwood. In reality the technical distinction has to do with the reproductive biology of the species. These coatings can either take the shape of a fruit or a shell. In contrast trees with seeds that are not enclosed are softwood.

Softwood has a faster rate of growth. More specifically the type of seeds produced by a tree determines whether it is hardwood or softwood. A wood will be classified as a softwood if the seeds don t have any type of coating and are instead dropped to the ground and left to the elements. A wood will be classified as a hardwood if the seeds that the tree produces have a coating.