Softwood vs Hardwood The terms softwood and hardwood do not refer to the density of the wood, but rather the type of tree that the wood comes from. Hardwood comes from angiosperms and softwood comes from gymnosperms. Therefore, the porous and easily scored balsa is hardwood but the dense and hard to work yew is softwood. Characteristics of Angiosperms. 1  Trees produce flowers. 2  Fertilization takes place through pollination of these flowers by birds and insects.