SOFTWOOD

timber obtained from coniferous (cone-bearing) trees (primarily of the pine and fir families). Softwood is usually obtained from the Baltic, Scandinavian, and North American areas and is the source of about 80 percent of the world's production of lumber. The term softwood is a classification of material, known originally from soft European woods, but actually including both soft and hard woods. Softwood trees are evergreen, except bald cypress, tamarack, and larch. Softwoods of longleaf pine, Douglas fir, or yew are much harder in the mechanical sense than several hardwoods.