SiS: RARE Petrified Wood Slab From Madagascar - Cycad?
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:15649671 |
Here's our latest rare petrified wood find - a particularly interesting and starkly beautiful fossil that I had not yet encountered from this incredibly vast petrified forest! I'm not a paleobotanist and don't pretend to be, but even my amateur eyes knew this log was something very different when I first spotted it. The poor finish disguised the true surprise waiting inside this ancient stone fossil until I was able to finally cut it. I cou...ldn't believe that the faint rays I spotted in the rough were so bold and ubiquitous once I had a look inside! I suspected immediately that I was looking at a horsetail of some kind. Today these plants are common in swampy areas and grow in a segmented, straw like trunk. The segmented (almost serrated) pith I've seen in some other trunk I acquired at the same time makes me think that this might be what this is as well, though this one varies from those a fair bit, particularly in the kinky rays that dominate the structure. I have since seen some reference specimens of some types of cycad that look VERY much like this as well. They seem to resemble this specimen to a greater degree than the calamites like specimens I've prepared, including the difference in the pith. While it is clearly not the Araucaria conifers that dominate this period and the petrified forests exposed in Madagascar, what it is for certain will require more expertise than I have to say with confidence. I will update my description if anyone credible steps forward with a verifiable interpretation. While we all wait for final confirmation of what this forest hosted a couple of hundred million years ago, we can immediately appreciate the beautiful aesthetics of this magnificent and properly prepared specimen. This beautiful and well preserved slab is a cross section of an incredibly ancient trunk that has waited a long time to tell us its tale! The growth structure is well preserved in both the rays and the pith of the plant. The pith is a bit amorphous and was almost certainly hollow but may have been pulpy and solid. We've polished this specimen to a very nice finish to aid in studying and admiring it. It's a true collector piece of one of the rarest of all petrified wood fossils and the first I've ever seen from the Madagascar petrified forests! I travelled to Madagascar a few years ago to select some choice petrified logs that I have been cutting ever since. The quality of the material I was able to obtain was incredible, and I've set up a good relationship with my suppliers that continues to produce new and amazing logs! This fine specimen is one they provided for me last year that I only recently decided to cut. I was very excited with the first cut and have been carefully preparing specimens from this short log with all the excitement of a kid in a candy store! The fossil structure is very clear and easy to see both with the naked eye and under magnification. This rare and unique plant is preserved with fine growth structure in a readily polished agate that produced a gorgeous collector piece. Since I'm the one that ground and polished it, I was able to apply some of the craftsmanship I've learned over the years to avoid problems with flaked out fracture lines that are common in the imported specimens. I've also polished it to a much higher quality lustre than you find on the imported varieties. Even if you already have Madagascar wood in your collection, you owe it to yourself to see how nice these ancient treasures can be when properly prepared! This wood takes an extreme polish that looks just fabulous. It has a ton of detail and some of the nicest colors I've ever seen in petrified wood (and considering what we usually have on hand this is saying a lot). The camera struggles with lighter tones so some of the color in this piece is washed out, but it's a real beauty in person! The heart is clearly visible and nicely center in a piece with a wonderful overall shape. It's a striking Madagascar wood round sure to enhance any collection! . It's just amazing how beautiful petrified wood can be and this fine specimen found halfway around the world shows to what lengths people will go to bring these treasures to market! If you don't own a top grade piece form this increasingly important deposit yet in your own collection, this is your chance. This is a virtually perfect round cut from the center of a nice sized log. This stone has been professionally polished on a special lap that produces a flat face and a mirror perfect shine. It is a perfect slab cut from the center of the log with a fair number of fractures but they've been stabilized so they didn't flake out during finishing and represent no risk of breakage - it's a fabulous piece. The polish really is liquid perfect - a difference in the quality products Sticks-in-Stones has built its reputation on! It measures about 6" across the widest two points over the polished face. It's cut about 0.42" thick. Weight is 0.80 lbs. Stands sold separately. Sticks-in-Stones Lapidary is happily providing UPS & USPS shipping to greatly reduce shipping charges on large rock orders. We will combine auction items or provide additional items from our shop to bring you the greatest possible value in fine Lapidary & stone collectibles!
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