Dalbergia melanoxylon surface of a young stem

The fine surface texture of a young Dalbergia melanoxylon stem is fairly smooth and pale. Tiny, whitish lenticels are scattered along a slightly darker, smooth surface.

A lenticel is a small spot of porous tissue made up of cells characterised by large intercellular spaces. Lenticels are found in the upper bark of certain woody stems and the surface tissue of certain roots. A lenticel serves as a pore through which gases may be emitted directly to or absorbed from the atmosphere. The word lenticel is derived from the lens-like shape of these cell clusters.

The presence of lenticels is one of the characteristics used in tree identification (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Wikipedia).