9.8" Tall, Petrified Wood Bookends with Fungal Rot - Arizona

Tall, Petrified Wood Bookends with Fungal Rot - Arizona #307180

This is a gorgeous pair of bookends made from Late Triassic aged, Arizona petrified wood. What makes this petrified wood specimen so unique is the wood contains fossilized fungus (the circular formations). This parasitic fungus grew on the tree while it was still alive and has been named Polyporites wardii. If that's not enough to interest you, there are a couple pockets within the wood that were naturally filled in by an unidentified blue mineral.

The bookends have been polished on the outer face and the contact points have been lined with felt. Each bookend slightly varies in size, with one measuring 9.8" tall, 6.5" wide and 1.7" thick, while the other is 9.6" tall, 6.45" wide and 1.7" thick.

This wood is similar to petrified wood found in the Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook, Arizona. Its petrified forest encompasses nearly 100,000 acres, and is almost entirely represented by the extinct conifer Araucarioxylon arizonicum.

The petrified wood from Araucarioxylon arizonicum happens to be the state fossil of Arizona. It 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 extremely fine hematite spherules.

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.

$295

SPECIES

Araucarioxylon arizonicum & Polyporites wardii (Fungus)

AGE

Late Triassic (~225 Million Years)