Madagascan Quartz Included Petrified Podocarpus Wood Sphere - 58mm, 388g

Locality - Mahajanga, Madagascar
Size – 58mm
Weight – 388g

This fossilized podocarpus wood sphere is a fantastic display piece flaunting intricate, striped woody patterns in earthy browns and reds with mottled cream patches and beautifully sparkling vugs filled with crystallized quartz scattered across the surface. 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.