Hardwood Introduction
 Hardwoods are a type of tree that produce a dense wood. Unlike softwoods, hardwoods usually have broad leaves. Except for brown, these colours are always present in the leaves while they are green but are masked by the large amounts of chlorophyll which is green. In a green leaf, water drawn up from the ground, carbon dioxide from the air and sunlight combine with water to make molecules of glucose which the tree uses as energy to grow. In some cases such as the maple trees glucose gets trapped inside the autumn leaf and sunlight and cool weather turns the glucose into reds and purples. The brown colours seen in autumn leaves are due to waste products left inside the leaf.