February 14, 2025
The Tucson Shows are coming to a close with the Main Convention Center show, and what a year it was! OK, maybe not in the petrified wood department, but in the world of rocks it cannot be beat. Thanks for coming along with us for another year of Tucson! ----- And don't forget to follow our link below 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
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) |
Osage-Orange (Maclura sp.)
Ricardo Formation, Pliocene Last Chance Canyon, California ** Here is a nice Osage-Orange specimen with a great pattern from Last Chance Canyon, north of Mojave, California. The petrified forest at Last Chance Canyon in the El Paso Mountains was completely depleted by rockhounds and souvenir hunters long before the State of California established Red Rock Canyon State Park in this area, and subsequently added Last Chance Canyon to the park. So, even if there were more petrified wood there now (there isn't), you would not be allowed to collect it! This piece was collected in the 1960's by a rockhound from Southern California. The descendants of this genera are still alive and well in North America but now are confined to a habitat following a narrow strip along drainages of the Red River in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma. While fossil Osage Orange is not rare, it also is not common either. Check out our photomicrograph to see the pattern created by an abundance of coalescing vasicentric parenchyma, Note also the abundance of tyloses in the exceptionally large (100 to 200 micron) vessels. Simply a great piece of a relatively uncommon taxon from a locality severely depleted by the middle of the 20th Century and now part of the California State Park System. 4.5" x 3" on polished face; 7/16" thick slab $65 |
Joshua Tree (Protoyucca shadishii) Virgin Valley Formation, Miocene Badger Flat, Humboldt County, Nevada ** This is a very unusual presentation of one of the scarcest species of petrified wood that one can collect. We have highlighted two separate closeup photomicrographs to demonstrate the point. This Joshua Tree was already dead and down when the volcanic event buried it under a layer of volcanic ash. Note the difference in the structure of the vascular bundles in each picture. In one the vascular structure is well-organized and seems to have been functioning properly but in the other picture you see the vascular structure disorganized and in fact, many small pieces of broken strands seem to predominate. Next notice that there is a wide cavity of white chalcedony that has no remaining anatomical structure. Quite typically, this plant suffered mightily from heartrot - a common problem for monocots since they lack the ability to produce toxins that can ward off fungal attacks. Monocots send up only one cotyledon from the seed rather than two - and silicified petrifications of monocots are very rare in the fossil record (palm is the single exception to this fact). And, as you can plainly see, this piece has the added benefit of some beautiful fortification agate! 5" x 3" on polished face; end cut varies from 1/2" to 1" thick $75 |
Araucaria Family (Araucariaceae)
Chinle Formation, Sonsela Member; Triassic
Long H ranch, near St. Johns, Arizona
** Fabulous pattern suggestive of the radial grain - and a feathery pattern that you can see from across the room! What looks like annual growth rings are more likely to be periodic drought rings. The environment during Chinle Time of the Triassic was quite sub-tropical - warm and wet but of course, droughts happen and cause a temporary cessation of growth. Please note that there is a tiny bit of edge damage at the 6:00 o'clock position. It is easier to see on the unpolished back side and not so much on the polished front side. However, it is a bit of damage and thus resulted in a real bargain price from the cutter. We are passing that savings along. In the absence of any edge damage this slab would command a price at least twice what we are able to ask. And it is gorgeous by the way.
9" x 7" on polished face; 5/8" thick slab $55
Chinle Formation, Sonsela Member; Triassic
Long H ranch, near St. Johns, Arizona
** Fabulous pattern suggestive of the radial grain - and a feathery pattern that you can see from across the room! What looks like annual growth rings are more likely to be periodic drought rings. The environment during Chinle Time of the Triassic was quite sub-tropical - warm and wet but of course, droughts happen and cause a temporary cessation of growth. Please note that there is a tiny bit of edge damage at the 6:00 o'clock position. It is easier to see on the unpolished back side and not so much on the polished front side. However, it is a bit of damage and thus resulted in a real bargain price from the cutter. We are passing that savings along. In the absence of any edge damage this slab would command a price at least twice what we are able to ask. And it is gorgeous by the way.
9" x 7" on polished face; 5/8" thick slab $55
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 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 |
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 |
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 |