Cell Structure Of Hardwood And Softwood

2 wood is hard and heavy with a rough texture.

Cell structure of hardwood and softwood.

Softwood is the wood of gymnosperms. The differences between hardwoods and softwoods come from the difference in their cellular structure. Cellular details of softwood and hardwood biodiversity of dead wood 2016 kurt fagerstedt water and cells in trees c. Hardwood is hard and heavy with a rough texture whereas softwood is soft and light with a fine texture.

This means the cells are the nutrient conduits. Longitudinal tracheids are cells that give the tree support and conduct water. The open cell structure of softwoods. There are differences between the physical structures of hardwoods and softwoods.

Hardwood structure hardwood xylem wood is composed of at least 4 major kinds of cells. Softwoods are simpler and more homogeneous in structure than hardwoods. Hardwood softwood 1 hardwood is the wood of dicot angiosperms. Some softwoods also have axial parenchyma cells but these are never as abundant as in hardwoods.

3 wood fibres present. Wood is soft and light with a fine texture. Hardwoods contain vessels softwoods do not. This is usually visible at both microscopic level and at the surface hardwoods tend to have broad leaves while softwoods tend to have needles and cones.

Parenchyma cells are an example of an anatomical element that is of much greater use in macroscopic hardwood identification than it is in softwood identification. In softwoods the cells have openings to other cells. Something commonly called cranky grain. Fibres and vessel elements are absent.

Slow growth unlike softwood hardwood forests take longer to replenish due to the tree s slower growth rate. Density most softwood have a comparatively lower density than most hardwoods. Each of which may constitute 15 or more of the volume see table 5 1. Hard to work with due to its density hardwood tends to be a lot harder to work with during construction.

Nonetheless even though hardwood parenchyma cells can form much more complex and telling arrangements softwood parenchyma still have a limited use in identification. The actual cells in the softwood species have the same function as the vessels in hardwoods. The cell structure being more complex make it harder to work with. The greater bulk of the axial cell system is made up of tracheids which function both in water conduction and support figs.