A Dalbergia melanoxylon spiny branchlet or dwarf shoot may be vicious in reminding intruders about invading the personal space of this tree. Although covered in bark, the spine can do painful damage.

Thick, hard and leaf-bearing, the modified spiny branchlets grow among thinner, longer "normal" branchlets that are not spine-like in the new growth (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002).