Hardwoods are angiosperms. They produce seeds with some sort of covering such as a fruit or nut. Softwoods are gymnosperms. They produce seeds with no covering and are largely evergreen and cone bearing. Can the difference be told from a piece of bark? Probably not in all cases.

I'm not at all sure what you mean about toxins.

Belgium eh???

i am wondering if there is a language barrier here... because i simply dont understand what you are getting at .... can we try again???

you show us some dead wood ... not soft/hard ... and you mention ID by bark ... but dont show us bark ..

and then throw in the toxin questions....

please.. lets try again ... perhaps one question at a time ...

ken

What sort of toxins did you think conifers (gymnosperms) produced and why are you concerned about them?

In my experience, the angiosperms are MUCH more likely to naturally produce 'toxins' than gymnosperms are.

Your photo looks more like a piece of weathered wood than bark. The grain does suggest conifer though.

Softwoods like pine and spruce produce turpentine though, and that is quite toxic.

"Softwoods like pine and spruce produce turpentine though, and that is quite toxic."

Agreed, but that's after the resin has been collected and distilled. The natural turpentine levels in gymnosperms aren't particularly dangerous. I'd avoid eating Taxus seeds but chewing on pine bark is more unpleasant than it is toxic.

I'd be more worried about angiosperms like Oleander, Castor Bean, Daphne, Poison Ivy, Pieris, etc.

Hi Everyone, thanks for your answers. I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough! For some reptiles the softwoods are toxic due to the Oils I think? I found this piece of wood and since I do have a reptile I'm wondering if I should keep him away from it or not. And therefore, I need to know what kind of tree it belongs to! :D Also, I'm just very curious on how to recognize them.

And yeah I said bark.. I now know that was incorrect. I'll call it "some dead wood" then. Thanks for pointing that out. :p

Also, I wasn't sure where to put this on this forum..

That old piece of wood is very unlikely to be toxic to any reptile

I agree with Huggorm. The warnings concerning reptiles are for fresh wood chips. The piece of wood in the picture is quite weathered, and I think any of the compounds that would bother reptiles have leached out. Looks like a nice piece of driftwood for a tank!