American elm is durable and tough, yet softer than most other hardwoods. Interlocked grains add to its toughness and make it more resistant to splitting. The color is light to medium reddish brown, sometimes with darker streaks.

American basswood, or linden, is a tonewood commonly used in manufacturing solid-body electric guitars. It has a soft texture suitable for making furniture, crates, wooden utensils, pulpwood, lumber, carvings, models, puppets, and aquarium accessories.

The wood of Amur corktree is relatively lightweight and soft, with a coarse texture. It ranges from pale yellow to light brown in color, with a straight, even grain. The wood is easy to work but not widely used for structural purposes. The primary commercial value of the tree lies in its corky bark. It is sometimes used in small woodworking projects.

Austrian pine is a large conifer with moderately hard and straight-grained timber that is knotty and rich in resin. This wood is rougher and softer than that of Scots pine and red pine, and most often used for rough carpentry, furniture, paneling, window frames, roofing, and floors.

Preview photo unavailable

Bitternut hickory produces a tough, strong hardwood similar to other hickories. Its heartwood is pale brown, often tinged with yellow, while the sapwood is nearly white. The grain is typically straight but can be irregular or wavy. This dense wood is highly shock-resistant, making it ideal for tool handles, flooring, and other high-stress applications. Its workability is moderate due to its hardness, but it finishes well when properly treated.

Black cherry is a durable hardwood of medium density. Its color ranges from pale pink to dark red-brown, and it will darken naturally over time. It is easy to work, bends well, and is highly sought-after for furniture, cabinetry, and woodworking.

Black locust is a very dense and heavy hardwood, with a medium texture and straight or slightly irregular grain. One of the most rot-resistant woods, it is ideal for fence posts, outdoor furniture, decking, flooring, boatbuilding, and other applications that may involve moisture.

Black walnut is a durable hardwood with a slightly open grain that is typically straight, but occasionally curly, wavy, or figured. Its deep brown color can have a gray, purple, or reddish cast. The texture of new wood is usually coarse, but the wood develops a lustrous patina over time. It is commonly used to make fine furniture, flooring, oars, and coffins.

Black willow is a lightweight, flexible hardwood, reddish to grayish brown in color. It offers good shock resistance, responds moderately well to steam bending, and is often used for millwork, furniture, doors, cabinetry, boxes, barrels, toys, and pulpwood.

Blue ash is a durable hardwood with a medium to coarse texture, similar to oak; the grain is typically straight but may be curly or figured. This wood is easy to work and responds well to steam bending, gluing, staining, and finishing. It is commonly used for flooring, furniture, tool handles, barrels, and baseball bats.

Boxelder is a straight-grained hardwood with a fine, even texture. One of the softest and lightest species of maple, it is easy to work, turn, and finish. It is commonly used to make baskets, boxes, musical instruments, and small ornamental objects.

Boxelder is pictured fourth from the left.

The wood of the bur oak is notably hard and dense, with a coarse and typically uneven texture. The grain is prominently patterned with rays and pores, and the color ranges from light to medium brown with an olive cast. This wood brings a rustic appeal to furniture, flooring, and cabinetry.

Castor-aralia is a relatively soft wood of medium density and texture, pale yellow to light brown in color. Its grain, which may be straight or slightly interlocked, has a unique appearance that is well-suited to ornamental purposes. This wood is often used for furniture and veneer.

Chinese catalpa is a softwood of medium density and texture, tending to be pale gray or light brown in color. It is lightweight and generally straight-grained, with occasional interlocked grain patterns. This wood is well-suited to carving, indoor furniture, and crafts. It is more resistant to rot than most softwoods and has historically been used for fence posts.

The wood of this small deciduous tree is fine-grained, strong, hard, and heavy. It is often used for tool handles.

Corkbark fir is a lightweight, somewhat brittle softwood with a straight grain and a fine texture. Its color ranges from light to reddish brown. It is most often used for rough construction, and occasionally for paper pulp.

Eastern larch is a hard, high-density wood with a fine to medium texture. The grain is straight with occasional knots, and the color ranges from yellow to reddish brown. This wood resists rot well and is excellent for outdoor applications that involve water, such as boats and decks.

European white birch, also known as silver birch, is a pale-colored hardwood with a smooth texture. It is most often used to produce plywood and is also frequently used for joinery timber, firewood, tanning, racecourse jumps, and brooms.

img src=”https://mortonarb.org/app/uploads/2024/05/Birch-1.jpg” height=”300px” alt=”” />

The wood of the ginkgo tree is highly durable, of medium density, and resistant to splitting, warping, and cracking. Commonly used for cabinetry and furniture, this wood is known to finish well and has a striking appearance, with hues of light yellow to golden brown streaked with black.

Hackberry is a grainy hardwood, light brown to gray in color. It has similar properties to more expensive lumbers such as oak and ash, and is often used in their place to craft furniture and frames. It excels specifically in steam bending and is sought by makers of bentwood furniture.

Hornbeam is a very dense, yet finely-textured hardwood that ranges in color from off-white to pale gold. Its wavy grain pattern offers unique decorative possibilities, and this wood is often chosen for carving projects and musical instruments.

Also known as American hophornbeam, ironwood is a very durable hardwood with a uniform texture and straight grain, light to reddish brown in color. Historically used to make sleigh runners, it is commonly made into fence posts, handles, plane soles, and other tools.

The soft, light-colored wood of Japanese falsecypress, an evergreen shrub native to Japan, is exceptionally resistant to decay. It is suitable for a wide range of applications, but most commonly used for construction and caskets.

The density and hardness of Japanese white birch are moderate, similar to other birches. This fine-textured wood is light brown in color, often with a slight reddish hue, and a grain that can be straight or wavy. It is commonly used for plywood, furniture, cabinetry, veneer, and paper production.

Jeffrey pine is a straight-grained softwood that is reddish brown in color, similar to ponderosa pine. This wood is easy to work, glue, and finish. It is suitable for a wide range of applications, from construction, window frames, and doors to interior trim and cabinetry.

Jeffrey pine is pictured third from the right.

The wood of Korean maackia is a dense hardwood with a fine, uniform texture. It has a light brown to pale yellowish-brown color with subtle grain patterns. This durable wood is moderately hard and resistant to decay, making it suitable for applications like small-scale carpentry, tool handles, and furniture.

Also known as European spruce, Norway spruce is a premium tonewood commonly used for violin front plates. It is both lightweight and strong, and typically has a straight grain. Its fine and uniform texture is ideal for carving and other decorative projects. For stringed instruments, select wood with thin late wood (dark lines) that are evenly-spaced.

Pecan wood is a dense, strong hardwood with a straight to irregular grain pattern. The heartwood is light to medium brown, sometimes with a reddish tint, while the sapwood is pale and creamy white. Pecan is known for its high strength and shock resistance, making it suitable for demanding applications such as flooring, tool handles, and furniture.

Pin oak is a sturdy hardwood, medium to coarse in texture, with a straight grain pattern. Its color ranges from light to medium brown, sometimes with a reddish tint. This wood is commonly used for flooring, furniture, cabinetry, and millwork.

Ponderosa pine is a heavy, knotty softwood that is reddish-brown in color. It has a straight grain and medium texture, and it is easy to work, glue, and finish. It is suitable for a wide range of applications, from furniture, doors, and window frames to interior woodwork.

Red oak is a dense hardwood, coarsely textured, and medium to reddish brown in color. Its grain tends to have a pronounced appearance that brings visual interest to furniture, flooring, cabinetry, and veneer.

This is a medium-density softwood with an even texture and a grain pattern that can be straight or wavy. Its color is typically reddish brown. Red pine is commonly used for construction, light poles, and paper pulp.

River birch is a light reddish-brown hardwood with a grain that is generally straight or slightly wavy. It has a fine, even texture and is generally easy to work by hand and machine. It has a wide variety of uses, from plywood and veneer to small decorative objects.

Like other oak species, scarlet oak is hard and dense, with a coarse texture. Scarlet oak has a straight grain pattern and is medium brown with a reddish pink tint. Common uses include furniture, flooring, interior trim, and cabinetry.

Scots pine is a softwood with a straight, even grain and relatively fine texture, usually light reddish brown in color. It is easy to work, glue, and finish. This durable wood is a top choice for furniture and construction; it is also suitable for exterior applications when treated.

Siberian elm is a resilient, relatively hard wood of moderate density. The reddish brown heartwood often has a distinctive olive tint. Due to its dramatic colors and interlocked grain patterns, this wood is excellent for turned objects, veneers, and other decorative applications.

Preview image is unavailable.

Slippery elm is a durable hardwood of moderate density, with a coarse texture typical of elm species. The grain of this reddish brown wood is often interlocked, resulting in interesting and attractive patterns for furniture, paneling, and turned objects.

Preview image is unavailable.

This hardwood is prized for its durability and attractive grain, which can be straight, rippled, or figured. Sugar maple has a fine texture and is heavy and dense, often weighing more than other species of maple and about the same as red oak. It is typically used for furniture, flooring, and woodworking.

Swamp chestnut oak is very hard and durable, with a medium-coarse grain, and is among the highest quality of all white oaks. This wood is resistant to rot and light to medium brown in color, sometimes with reddish hues. It is used for construction, flooring, posts, wagons, tool handles, basket weaving, and furniture.

Swamp chestnut oak is pictured second from the left.

Three-flowered maple is hard and dense, with the fine and even texture typical of maple species. The grain of this reddish brown wood is slightly wavy. Three-flowered maple is popular for decorative veneers and turned objects, and often selected for musical instruments and high-quality furniture.

The wood of the tuliptree is light yellow to brown with occasional streaks of purple and green. It has a straight grain and moderate density, and it is suitable for outdoor applications as well as fine woodworking projects. Tuliptree withstands rot even better than white oak and is excellent for boat building.

Preview image is unavailable.

Black tupelo is a pale yellow to brown hardwood with a fine-textured, interlocked grain. The wood is heavy, hard, and difficult to split; qualities that led to its use making mauls, pulleys, wheel hubs, agricultural rollers, bowls, and paving blocks.

Willow wood is very strong, yet lightweight and flexible. The color of this medium-density hardwood ranges from creamy white to light brown; the texture is fine and uniform, with a grain that can be straight, irregular, or interlocked. It is easy to bend and carve, and it is commonly used to make woven baskets and cricket bats.

White spruce is a white to light yellow softwood with a straight and even grain pattern, white to light yellow in color. It is often selected for the tops (soundboards) of guitars and other musical instruments. Other common uses for white spruce include millwork and interior finish.