Rhytidome porous, lacking typical woody odor.
Vascular cambium absent, xylem and phloem intermingling freely in byzantine beauty.
Phloem thin-walled, with aubergine coloring. Transported fluids carbon-dioxide rich, deficient in carbohydrates.
Xylem, conversely, a shocking, highly-oxygenated crimson.
The heartwood center is most singular of all: chambered and rubbery, precious to behold—and hold.

Tim Boiteau writes in Michigan. He is an Editor at Every Day Fiction, a Writer of the Future winner, and the author of two novels, with a third forthcoming. See more at timboiteau.wordpress.com.