Softwood facts for kids

Piles of softwood lumber.

Softwood is wood that comes from gymnosperm trees. These are conifers, a term which includes most evergreen trees.

Softwood makes up about 80% of the world's production of lumber. Traditional production areas include North America, Scandinavia, Baltic countries and China. The opposite of softwood is hardwood, which is wood that comes from angiosperm trees. Softwoods are not always softer than hardwoods. Both groups include a variety of wood types that vary in actual hardness. For example balsa is a hardwood but is softer than most softwoods. Douglas fir, a softwood, is much harder than many hardwoods.

Images for kids

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  Scots Pine, a typical and well-known softwood

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  SEM images showing the presence of pores in hardwoods (oak, top) and absence in softwoods (pine, bottom)