Hardwood
Flooring is often made of hardwood because it can stand up to years of people walking on it with their shoes. An example is the flooring made from tiger-wood seen in the gallery below. Hardwoods are also used to make wood veneers to glue over other, cheaper woods, making them less expensive than solid hardwood while still giving them the appearance of a particular species of wood. This has become a common way of using tropical hardwoods that have a limited supply of trees due to deforestation occurring in many tropical countries. In Europe, hardwoods account for 29% and softwoods 71% of wood consumption. Hardwood has very short fibers about 1mm in length and is so also used to make fine paper such as writing paper, tissue, and printing paper. Paper with longer fibers such as paper bags, cardboard and shipping containers is made of softwoods.