Madagascan Petrified Podocarpus Wood Sphere - 69mm, 460g

Locality - Mahajanga, Madagascar
Size – 69mm
Weight – 460g

This fossilized podocarpus wood sphere features excellently preserved wood grain details with colourful, deep red and earthy brown tones and unique inclusions of druzy, sparkling quartz. It has been superbly polished and shaped and displays aesthetically from all angles. A wooden sphere stand as pictured is included with this item.

Fossilized wood – also known as petrified wood - is the preserved remains of ancient trees, transformed into stone through by the process of permineralization. It begins to form when plant material is buried by sediment and protected from decay by oxygen and organisms. Then, groundwater rich in dissolved solids flows through the sediment replacing the original plant material with silica, calcite, pyrite or another inorganic material such as opal. This results in a beautiful and unique combination of perfectly preserved wood structure with vivid mineral colouration, suitable for both fossil and mineral collections. The most famous location worldwide for fossilized wood is the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, US, where thousands of perfectly preserved trees from 225 million years ago lay protected in an area of 600 square kilometres.