Isn't it as simple as hard wood comes from deciduous trees and softwood from evergreen?
Or is that another "truth" that will turn out to be wrong (like the one about the water going down the plug hole the other way North of the equator.
<off to google>
Here we go. Wikipedia says;
Hardwoods are produced by angiosperm trees that reproduce by flowers, and have broad leaves. Many species are deciduous. Those of temperate regions lose their leaves every autumn as temperatures fall and are dormant in the winter, but those of tropical regions may shed their leaves in response to seasonal or sporadic periods of drought. Hardwood from deciduous species, such as oak, normally shows annual growth rings, but these may be absent in some tropical hardwoods.
Hardwoods have a more complex structure than softwoods and are often much slower growing as a result. The dominant feature separating "hardwoods" from softwoods is the presence of pores, or vessels.[1] The vessels may show considerable variation in size, shape of perforation plates (simple, scalariform, reticulate, foraminate), and structure of cell wall, such as spiral thickenings.
As the name suggests, the wood from these trees is generally harder than that of softwoods, but there are significant exceptions. In both groups there is an enormous variation in actual wood hardness, with the range in density in hardwoods completely including that of softwoods; some hardwoods (e.g., balsa) are softer than most softwoods, while yew is an example of a hard softwood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardwood
Fascinating! So it's all down to how the trees "get it on."

EDIT: Let's tack on an update real quick... I had an amazingly brief day of work. Picked up trash from the big shopping center then mowed two lawns and made it home just shy of 9AM!! YAY!! FANTASTIC! Good deal, too, because I feel rather lousy. Just generally worn out and a bit nasueaus, etc. It's the humidity!! It's way high and ALWAYS makes me feel like garbage. BUT ANYWAY... yeah, I'm now home, chores done, and have allll day to work on this neat lil wing thing.
So, the PSR is all done now to best of my knowledge. It all looks great but I'll know more after the next round of primer. I have the can of that sitting out on top of the AC unit warming up and should be at operating temperature within the next half hour or so then I just have to hit this thing with a couple quick shots and see what the score is.
I feel pretty confident about it being just fine. All I had to do was smooth out the joins on the intakes and a little bit where I went wide with the glue on the bottom side fins. So, if this is good like I think it will be I'll be in paint by early afternoon.