9.1" Polished Petrified Featherwood Stand-up - Arizona

This is an interesting, 9.1" tall polished section of petrified "featherwood", collected from Arizona. This type of wood has incredible grain detail that bears the appearance of a spray of bird feathers. Both faces have been cut flat and one was polished to a glossy finish while the remainder of the wood has its natural rough surface. The base has been cut flat so that it stands up nicely on a hard surface without the need for a display stand.

The vibrant coloration is due to the contaminating minerals in the silica which replaced the original wood structure. For example pinks and reds are due to hematite, a form of oxidized iron. This is similar to petrified wood which is found in the Petrified Forest National Park. The petrified forest encompasses nearly 100k acres and this wood comes from land outside of the park.

The petrified wood from the extinct conifer Araucarioxylon arizonicum which happens to be the state fossil of Arizona. The petrified wood of this tree is frequently referred to as "Rainbow wood" because of the large variety of colors some specimens exhibit. The reds and oranges come from hematite inclusions within the silica, the yellows from limonite and the purples from magnesium based minerals.

Araucarioxylon arizonicum is estimated to have grown more than 150 feet high and dominated the tropical forests in what is now Arizona nearly 225 million years ago.
SOLD
DETAILS
SPECIES
Unidentified
LOCATION
Arizona
SIZE
9.1 x 6.1 x 3"
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#210848
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