Balsa Tree Hardwood Softwood

Hardwoods are also known as broadleaf trees.

Balsa tree hardwood softwood. The balsa tree is deciduous and classified as an angiosperm which is the same classification as a hardwood such as an oak tree. And while generally speaking the average hardwood is a good deal harder and more durable than the average softwood there are examples of deciduous hardwoods that are much softer than the hardest softwoods. Hardwood trees are angiosperms mostly decidous in the northern hemisphere but evergreens in the southern hemisphere while softwoods are conifers. The term hardwood does not refer to the density.

There are many more types of hardwood trees than there are softwood. All trees reproduce by producing seeds but the seed structure varies. 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. Surprising though it may seem balsa is a hardwood.

Balsa lumber is very soft and light with a coarse open grain. For example balsa wood is one of the lightest least dense woods there is and it s considered a hardwood. The density of dry balsa wood ranges from 40 340 kg m 3 with a typical density around 160 kg m 3. Softwoods are conifers and hardwoods are dicotyledons.

The terms hardwood and softwood don t relate to the weight or density of the wood but to the tree type. Less parallel their scientific classification. It is the softest commercial hardwood. The wood of some hardwoods for example certain willows and poplars and the softest of.

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. The trees are harvested after six to 10 years of growth. Balsa wood is very soft and light and is commonly used in model aeroplane building but it is not technically classified as a softwood. The actual hardness or density of the wood has little to do with the classification.

An example is balsa a hardwood that is quite soft when compared to the wood from yew trees which is quite durable and hard. If a tree s seeds have some sort of covering when they fall from the tree be it in the form of a shell or fruit then the wood of that tree will be classified as hardwood. Is balsa a hardwood or a softwood. The designations softwood hardwood and broadleaf however are often imprecise.

The name balsa comes from the spanish word for raft. Other articles where softwood is discussed. Hardwood trees are angiosperms plants that produce seeds with some sort of.