HARDWOODS. A term applied in commercial usage to woods that are close in grain, heavy, and therefore hard and strong. It is not a scientific classification. The chief hardwoods in common use are oak, chestnut, elm, beech, ash, mahogany, walnut, maple, teak, sycamore, rosewood and greenheart. These are all the products of broad-leaved or foliage trees. Many beautiful and valuable hardwoods are known to the botanist, and indeed to the timber trade, which are not generally used by furniture manufac turers. Among these may be mentioned Indian laurel, Australian blackwood, silky oak and Australian walnut. (See TIMBER.)