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The microscope reveals that wood is composed of minute units called cells. According to estimates, 1 cubic metre (about 35 cubic feet) of spruce wood contains 350 billion–500 billion cells. The basic cell types are called tracheids, vessel members, fibres, and parenchyma. Softwoods are made of tracheids and parenchyma, and hardwoods of vessel members, fibres, and parenchyma. A few hardwood species contain tracheids, but such instances are rare. Tracheids are considered a primitive cell type that gave rise, through evolution, to both vessel members and fibres. The wood of softwood species is composed predominantly of tracheids. These cells are mainly ...(100 of 12879 words)