And while this example lists just some of the most popular hardwood species there are hundreds of varieties representing the north american hardwood population.
The softest hardwood.
For example balsa wood is known as one of the softest and least dense types of wood yet it is categorized as hardwood.
First it is virtually unobtainable and not commercially available outside of its natural range in central south america.
Similarly wood from the yew tree which is one of the toughest woods and is harder than most types of oak is classified as softwood.
However the wood is omitted from this list for two main reasons.
Other soft hardwoods.
A hardwood named quipo cavanillesia platanifolia is commonly reported as the softest known wood with an alleged janka hardness of 22 lb f 98 n.
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.
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.
Because hardness is an important factor and hardness.
Wood is categorized as either softwood or hardwood based on physical structure and makeup.