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January 20, 2025
New items here! We will be headed to Tucson in one week, but before then we will continue to offer some new specimens. Thank you! ----- Follow our link to discover the organization devoted to fossil forests throughout the world - to the people who study them, to the people who collect their treasures, and to news about discoveries ------ Jim Mills and Beth Myers |
Welcome to Mills Geological quality identified petrified wood and plant fossils from around the globe |
our featured specimen
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Juniper (Juniperus sp.)
Barstow Formation, Miocene Lenwood/Barstow, California ** EXCEPTIONALLY RARE SPECIMEN ALERT!!! You might even say that it is among the "Holy Grail" category of specimens, at least for California collectors. Of course, there is an interesting provenance associated with this specimen. This small piece was found by a traveling salesman sometime after the Great Depression. This salesman operated on a low budget, traveling between cities and towns in the southwest with samples of shoes that could be ordered from the company that employed him. To keep expenses low, he car-camped on his travels and on one particular evening, he found himself camped along Highway 66 midway between Barstow and Lenwood in San Bernardino County, California. Being a bit of a rockhound, he always looked around his camps for interesting rocks and on that fateful evening he found literally ALL of the material that subsequently came to be known by California rockhounds as "Lenwood Blue Petrified Wood.” The darker colors of the material are actually a very deep blue but the more visible light green hue is the color that really jumps out to the naked eye - but "Lenwood Blue" is the name that stuck. The site today is actually within the city limits of Barstow, now much larger than in the days of mid-20th century. And parenthetically, the geographic name Lenwood was just a wide spot in the road mid-century but today is the site of a large number of "factory outlet" stores along Interstate 15. The exact site is behind some industrial buildings alongside the I-15 and no amount of searching in the past 50 to 75 years has uncovered any more of this interesting material. At some point in the last quarter of the 20th century a limb of Lenwood Blue was obtained by the dealer Alex Stoltz. Alex could be seen at most of the California Gem and Mineral society shows and he cut that limb into several slices. Stories about Alex abound and not all of them are complimentary. However, he did know his rare localities and made certain to tout their scarcity when he offered a slice of Lenwood Blue. Indeed, I acquired the slice of Lenwood Blue in our own collection from Alex late in the 20th century and since then I have handled one other slice from the collection of a Bakersfield collector. The present slice, very close in appearance to both of the previous slices comes out of the Charles Eastman Collection and "Chuck" very likely acquired it at about the same time as the other two were acquired. Alex always told customers that the blue color came from traces of cobalt in the crystal lattice of the petrifying silica however, while I have never sent the specimen for testing, I think the idea of cobaltian chromophore was a complete fabrication by Alex, based mostly upon the similarity to the so-called "cobalt blue" antique glass. But it is all part of the story, the history, and the provenance of this unique specimen. If you value rarity along with bullet-proof provenance, this may be the only time you will see one of these specimens on the market. It is indeed a unique opportunity. 3.75" x 1.75" on polished face; 5/16" thick slab $325 (immediately qualifies for our 10% discount on orders totalling $200 or more) |
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Palm trunk (Palmoxylon macginitiei)
Bridger Formation, Middle Eocene Big Sandy Reservoir, near Farson, Wyoming ** Classically beautiful complete palm trunk with numerous special features from the Big Sandy Reservoir classic locality near Farson, Wyoming. For starters, this palm has really well-preserved wood anatomy of the P. macginitiei (see our photomicrograph) and shows a typical palm problem of heartrot, wherein the center has simply rotted away and been replaced by lovely blue agate. While viewing the photomicrograph, be sure to notice that there is a hairline fracture going right through the center of the light tan area - a fracture naturally healed but at one time enabling ground water penetrate the specimen and leach the black color out of the adjacent already petrified rock. Every light tan area of this slab has one of those now healed fractures which helps tell the story of how the pattern was developed for this slab. A very special feature of this specimen is that it has plenty of sections of periderm and ramentum, the fibrous and woody protective layer around the periphery that protects the vessel bearing tissue of the trunk. The bubbly blue agate coating the interior of the heartrot cavities is another added, attractive addition to our list of features, as is the final coating of Collenia algae that formed around the trunk when it was dead and down and underwater. One of those cavities has the light blue agate and quartz crystal filling that makes the "Blue Forest" a favorite among petrified wood collectors. We love these Palmoxylon specimens with such an array of great features. 7” x 5.25” on polished face; 1/2" thick slab $75 |
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Juniper (Juniperus sp.)
Kalamazoo Creek Tuff Formation, Oligocene
Cherry Creek, Nevada
** Before reading the rest of this description, be sure and click on the photo for a more expansive view of this piece of simply unparalleled beauty in both color and pattern. Each time we look at this spectacular slab we see something we missed previously – and we think that you will too. It is a marvelous piece of petrified juniper from the well-known Cherry Creek area in Nevada. The colors are every bit as rich as your monitor is displaying! It shows some outstanding growth rings, several different rich red hues of color, several small vugs lined with blue chalcedony, and a simply beautiful pattern that combines all of these features into a stunning specimen. If you have a Cherry Creek slab already in your collection, we recommend giving this one a close look as it may well be an upgrade for you. It is a manageable size for most any collection that does not have (or does have!) the Cherry Creek location well represented.
Cherry Creek is a classic petrified wood locality from which beautiful wood like this is becoming increasingly hard to find on the market. Once upon a time, we had several slabs from this locality to offer, but in recent years, we have not been able to acquire any gorgeous slabs such as this one. In fact, this is the slab that we sold to Charles Eastman well over 15 years ago and we recently acquired it back from his estate. This slab is truly a work of art - nature at its best -- and the polish is exquisite!
As we alluded to previously here, through the years we have replaced specimens in our collection with a “better one” (interpreted as a slab or limb that appealed to us more) and this might be the case with you if you are lucky enough to own a Cherry Creek Juniper at the moment.
11" x 4.5" on polished face; 3/8" thick slab $325
(immediately qualifies for our 10% discount on orders totaling over $200)
Kalamazoo Creek Tuff Formation, Oligocene
Cherry Creek, Nevada
** Before reading the rest of this description, be sure and click on the photo for a more expansive view of this piece of simply unparalleled beauty in both color and pattern. Each time we look at this spectacular slab we see something we missed previously – and we think that you will too. It is a marvelous piece of petrified juniper from the well-known Cherry Creek area in Nevada. The colors are every bit as rich as your monitor is displaying! It shows some outstanding growth rings, several different rich red hues of color, several small vugs lined with blue chalcedony, and a simply beautiful pattern that combines all of these features into a stunning specimen. If you have a Cherry Creek slab already in your collection, we recommend giving this one a close look as it may well be an upgrade for you. It is a manageable size for most any collection that does not have (or does have!) the Cherry Creek location well represented.
Cherry Creek is a classic petrified wood locality from which beautiful wood like this is becoming increasingly hard to find on the market. Once upon a time, we had several slabs from this locality to offer, but in recent years, we have not been able to acquire any gorgeous slabs such as this one. In fact, this is the slab that we sold to Charles Eastman well over 15 years ago and we recently acquired it back from his estate. This slab is truly a work of art - nature at its best -- and the polish is exquisite!
As we alluded to previously here, through the years we have replaced specimens in our collection with a “better one” (interpreted as a slab or limb that appealed to us more) and this might be the case with you if you are lucky enough to own a Cherry Creek Juniper at the moment.
11" x 4.5" on polished face; 3/8" thick slab $325
(immediately qualifies for our 10% discount on orders totaling over $200)
Ancient Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia sp.)
Columbia Plateau Basalts Group Miocene
Saddle Mountain, Washington
** Exceptionally attractive and colorful specimen from the top of Saddle Mountain. In addition to its natural specimen beauty, the cutter topped it off with an exquisite polish. You will want to keep this one on display because every time you look at it, it seems you will see something different in the pattern. The rich variation in various reds and brown hues is the result of iron oxide (hematite) ions sneaking into the crystal lattice of the silicon dioxide (agate). It only takes a few parts per million to cause a color change and this specimen has many changes of color. This colorful material from the top of Saddle Mountain is quite different from the much lighter specimens (mostly bald cypress) farther down on the side of Saddle Mountain because they resulted from different volcanic events at different times (but still Miocene in age) with different constituents in the magma. We always have liked to display the two localities side by side as a good way to start a conversation about ash falls and permineralization. This one's a keeper.
4.25" x 3.5" on polished face; 5/16" thick slab $65
Columbia Plateau Basalts Group Miocene
Saddle Mountain, Washington
** Exceptionally attractive and colorful specimen from the top of Saddle Mountain. In addition to its natural specimen beauty, the cutter topped it off with an exquisite polish. You will want to keep this one on display because every time you look at it, it seems you will see something different in the pattern. The rich variation in various reds and brown hues is the result of iron oxide (hematite) ions sneaking into the crystal lattice of the silicon dioxide (agate). It only takes a few parts per million to cause a color change and this specimen has many changes of color. This colorful material from the top of Saddle Mountain is quite different from the much lighter specimens (mostly bald cypress) farther down on the side of Saddle Mountain because they resulted from different volcanic events at different times (but still Miocene in age) with different constituents in the magma. We always have liked to display the two localities side by side as a good way to start a conversation about ash falls and permineralization. This one's a keeper.
4.25" x 3.5" on polished face; 5/16" thick slab $65
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Ancient conifer (Araucariaceae Family)
Middle to Late Jurassic Chinchilla/Wandoan District, Queensland, Australia ** Proof that one can still acquire fabulous wood specimens at reasonable prices. This is a lovely slice from the classic Wandoan District of Queensland. It has the kind of growth rings and defined center that make a fine display specimen from Australia. The fact that the district produces highly-agatized wood that is free of fractures and imperfections means that the polish achieved by our lapidary is mirror bright. And, at this low price, we don't expect that the slice will last long on our website! (Clarification: those little white specks you see are mineralizations and not dust.) 3.5" x 2.75" on polished face; 5/16" thick slab $40 |
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Laurel Family (Laurinoxylon sp.)
Yegua Formation; Eocene Madisonville area, Madison County, Texas ** There is spectacular anatomical preservation in this specimen! The Lauraceae Family has 45 genera and over 2800 species - a truly bewildering variety within a single family. To make matters worse for wood anatomists, there are large groups of species in which the wood anatomy is nearly identical despite the fact that the reproductive structures (flowers, seeds) are different enough to divide them into species. As a consequence, wood anatomists have erected the taxon Laurinoxylon as a convenient way to simply lump them together into more workable groups (some workers have proposed four different groups but the defining characteristics are not all seen in the transverse plane). This Eocene Texas specimen shows some of the main characteristics of Laurinoxylon very nicely. They include indistinct growth rings, diffuse porous (evenly spaced vessels), vasicentric parenchyma (that is the white ring or glow on the periphery of each vessel), vessel density in the range of 5 to 20 per square millimeter, and vessels both singular and in multiple radial groups of two and sometimes three. The fossil species Laurinoxylon eocenicum has been described in the literature from Yellowstone National Park but the distance between Wyoming and Texas and the time lapse between Yegua and Lamar River Formations make it highly likely that this specimen would be accorded a different species epitaph. There are some obvious differences between the two species - the Yellowstone specimens have considerably smaller vessels and wider rays while the Texas specimens have considerably larger vessels, and their narrower rays seem to wander around the vessels in wavy rather than straight lines. The Yegua (loosely pronounced “yay-oh-wa”) Formation records a time of periodic sea level fluctuations and it was likely during one of the lower levels of the oceans that this log was trapped in the delta and covered with sediments carrying quantities of volcanic ash. It was this volcanic ash that provided the silica to petrify the wood. During other periods of the Yegua, the log would have floated out into the Gulf of Mexico, waterlogged, and ended up on the continental shelf where it would have slowly rotted away. So, good luck for us petrified wood collectors that the Yegua had a low sea level occasionally! There is much to recommend in this specimen and we congratulate in advance the lucky collector who nabs this one. 6.5” x 4.5” on polished face; 3/4” thick slab $65 |
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Undetermined Root (Incertae sedis)
Tertiary Chimney Creek, Nevada ** This is a wonderful display specimen! It is a main root with numerous root protuberances now seen as bumps and swellings emanating from the main axis. Most of the material recovered at Chimney Creek Reservoir is root, not stem, and this section is no exception. Growth habits of roots generally preclude sending rootlets in the direction of the sky, a phenomenon caused by both gravity and the relative difference between soil moisture above and below the main root axis. We are told by the collector that this specimen came from an area a bit north of the traditional Chimney creek locality at the edge of the reservoir. We love the display quality of the piece with perfect polish on the cut face and outstanding character along the exterior. 1.75" in diameter on the polished face, 6” long section $35 |
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