Botanical Nerd Word: Lenticel

Birch bark showing lenticels

Lenticel: A pore in the stem of a woody plant, showing as a raised spot that may be filled with a powdery substance. The pore permits air to reach tissues below the surface.*

Birch trees (Betula spp.) have conspicuous horizontal lenticels.

*Allaby, M. (2006). A dictionary of plant sciences (Revised ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.