Did you know that there are hardwood trees and softwood trees? Hardwood trees fit their name as they are strong, durable, and have a higher density, while softwood trees are weaker and more porous. Softwood trees are weaker because the phloem is bigger leaving little room for the cellulose (cell walls and fibers) and lignin (fibers that make paper) which makes the tree stronger. Hardwood trees are stronger because there are fewer pores which makes hardwood trees stronger.
What makes a tree identified as a hardwood or a softwood? Hardwood trees have a coating around their seeds, while softwood trees seeds are exposed to the weather.
Which type of wood burns better? Softwood trees are usually conifers (evergreens) and are more porous allowing the wood to burn easily. Hardwood trees are usually deciduous and are more fire-resistant, making the wood slower to start burning, however hardwood trees burn longer.
As you can see there are many differences between hardwood and softwood trees and be sure to check out another one of my blogs called Deciduous vs Evergreen.
