Flake wood figuring appears when a wood species has heavy medullary ray growth. Medullary rays are a type of cellular structure found in some species of wood, which grows in a radial pattern perpendicular to the wood’s growth rings. Flake figuring will appear if you cut the wood parallel, or nearly parallel, to the medullary rays. Its visual appearance will vary per wood species but will commonly look like flecks or small speckles around the growth rings. Flake figuring can also be referred to as fleck, ray flake, or ray fleck.