Is cottonwood soft or hard?

Question

Is cottonwood soft or hard?

Answer 1

Cottonwood - or Balsam Poplar - is a soft wood.

Answer 2

Much as would be expected by the name, cottonwood is relatively soft. Makes terrible firewood.

Answer 3

This might depend upon who is asking the question.

Timber is called hardwood if it is from deciduous tress, and softwood if it is from coniferous trees.

So you can have some very hard softwoods (and vice versa).