Question

Sap wood differ from heart wood in being

• A. Darker and non conducting
• B. Softer and non conducting
• C. Lighter and conducting
• D. Hard, darker and less conducting

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

Lighter and conducting

Sapwood is the living, outermost portion of a woody stem or branch, while the heartwood is the dead, inner wood, which often comprises the majority of a stems cross-section. Sapwood is usually lighter in color than heartwood. Heartwood is also called as 'duramen', dead, central wood of trees. It's cells usually, contain tannins or other substances that make it dark in color and sometimes aromatic. Heartwood is mechanically strong, resistant to decay and less easily penetrated by wood preservative chemicals than other types of wood. One or more layers of living and functional sapwood cells are periodically converted to heartwood. Thus, option C is correct.