Hardwood not hard, softwood not soft! (necessarily)

[George E. Cawthon]

Whoa, think you are a bit mixed up. I don't have a book to reference the strengths of hardwoods so this is just for conifers. First, Douglas fir is the common name of the tree species Pseudotsuga menziesii. Tsuga is the genus of hemlock, so Pseudotsuga means false hemlock, but that name is based on tree aspect and not on any lumber characteristic. So Larry just mixed up larch with hemlock.

Lumber from conifers is often put in categories that combine more than one species. You have apparently not paid attention to the dashes in the categories as you have them wrong and made wrong conclusions. There is no dash between Douglas and Fir. The two strongest woods are Douglas fir and Larch which are combined into one general category "Douglas fir-Larch" (note the dash placement which applies to all the other categories you gave). Some other categories are Hem-Fir meaning hemlock and fir, Engelmann Spruce-Alpine Fir which is self explanatory, etc.

Your statement, "Douglas-Fir-Larch is the strongest of the Doug Firs," doesn't make sense. What can be state is that the Douglas fir-larch category of lumber is the strongest category and is comprise of a mix of Douglas Fir and Larch. The Douglas Fir South simply recognizes that lumber from Douglas fir trees growing further south tends to be a bit weaker than lumber from that species growing further north.

[Dennis]

The Forest Products Laboratory publishes the Wood Handbook, which is usually regarded as the authority on wood and wood-base products. (Not the sole authority, but neither is it contested.)

Under Hardwoods & softwoods:

"Trees are divided into two broad classes, usually referred to as hardwoods and softwoods. These names can be confusing since some softwoods are actually harder than some hard-woods, and conversely some hardwoods are softer than some softwoods. For example, softwoods such as longleaf pine and Douglas-fir are typically harder than the hardwoods basswood and aspen. Botanically, hardwoods are Angiosperms; the seeds are enclosed in the ovary of the flower. Anatomically, hardwoods are porous; that is, they contain vessel elements. A vessel element is a wood cell with open ends; when vessel elements are set one above another, they form a continuous tube (vessel), which serves as a conduit for transporting water or sap in the tree. Typically, hardwoods are plants with broad leaves that, with few exceptions in the temperate re-gion, lose their leaves in autumn or winter. Most imported tropical woods are hardwoods. Botanically, softwoods are Gymnosperms or conifers; the seeds are naked (not enclosed in the ovary of the flower). Anatomically, softwoods are nonporous and do not contain vessels. Softwoods are usually cone-bearing plants with needle- or scale-like evergreen leaves. Some softwoods, such as larches and baldcypress, lose their needles during autumn or winter. Major resources of softwood species are spread across the United States, except for the Great Plains where only small areas are forested. Softwood species are often loosely grouped in three general regions, as shown in Table 1-1. Hardwoods also occur in all parts of the United States, although most grow east of the Great Plains. Hardwood species are shown by region in Table 1-2."

[Dennis]

I agree. Never paid much attention to this in the past as how they were grouped, only as to the values the 'shared'. But they are indeed different trees, my error. Sorry to all and esp. Larry.

Dennis