05/29/2026
Ever noticed a subtle shimmer in certain wood floors – silver-toned flecks that seem to catch the light at a different angle from the rest of the grain?
Those are medullary rays. Channels that carried nutrients through the living tree. When oak is quartersawn – cut at a specific angle through the log – they appear on the surface of every board.
It's one of those details that's easy to walk past, and hard to forget once you know what you're looking at.