Question

Different betweens sap wood and hard wood

Answer 1

Sapwood is the living, outermost portion of a woody stem or branch, while heartwood is the dead, inner wood, which often comprises the majority of a stem’s cross-section. You can usually distinguish sapwood from heartwood by its lighter color.

But, color in wood can be very misleading; not all heartwood is dark and not all dark-colored wood is heartwood. And, the relative amounts of sapwood and heartwood in any stem can vary greatly among individuals, species, and growing conditions. So, for a more accurate – and less specious – distinction, we need a more complete understanding of what wood is and how both sapwood and heartwood form. This won’t hurt.

All wood starts as sapwood. It is formed just under the bark by a thin layer of living cells known as the cambium, which produces bark cells to the outside and wood cells to the inside. Tree stems increase in girth during each year of growth because a new layer of wood cells is added inside the cambium. In good growing years, this new layer of wood can be many cells thick, and in poor years, it is relatively thin.