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How do visible pores in hardwood relate to vessel members?

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temperate softwoods and hardwoods selected to show variations — wood Temperate softwoods (left column) and hardwoods (right column), selected to highlight natural variations in colour and figure: (A) Douglas fir, (B) sugar pine, (C) redwood, (D) white oak, (E) American sycamore, and (F) black cherry. Each image shows (from left to right) transverse, radial, and tangential surfaces. Click on an individual image for an enlarged view.

In the study of wood, the characteristic pores visible in a transverse section of hardwood are actually vessel members.

While hardwoods are composed of vessel members, fibres, and parenchyma, it is the vessel members that form vertical, pipelike stacks known as vessels, which serve as the primary water-conducting cells. When these vessels are viewed in a cross-section, they appear as the distinct pores that define the macrostructure of broad-leaved species.12

Depending on the species, these pores may be categorized as:
* Ring-porous: Pores in the earlywood are significantly larger than those in the latewood (e.g., oak or chestnut).2
* Diffuse-porous: Pores are relatively uniform in size and evenly distributed throughout the growth ring (e.g., basswood or poplar).2