That looks like wood from a palm tree. In the Philippines we have something similar called "Bahi", which is made from the heart of a type of palm tree. If you look at the very end, all you see are dots...these are the ends of the fibers(you can see this in the second pic you posted). The more darker and fiberis, the denser and stronger the wood is. As I said, the best section is the heart(which is the middle and bottom of the palm, this is the densest and strongest area of the tree. If the wood goes from dark to light with less fibers, then you are getting the wood that is on the outer shell of the heart, which is less desirable. In the olden days, Eskrimadors(Filipino Martial Artists) made sticks out of this wood and used them in death matchs. They are extremely strong, but also very heavy. But I also know the Philippine culture weren't the only ones to use palm tree wood.
