Our featured specimen

Primitive Conifer (Araucarioxylon arizonicum)
Chinle Formation, Petrified Forest Member, Triassic
Navajo/Apache Counties, Arizona
** From an old collection, this very handsome slab comes from the the same geologic formation as the the Petrified Forest National Park.  Consequently, it has exactly the same mineralization as the deposits in the park that are called “Rainbow Forest beds,” an apt name for wood this colorful. Rich reds predominate, yellows are strong, and the black blue and white accents make the whole thing truly a rainbow of color.   All of these colors are caused by various oxides of iron - each with a different valence. Petrified wood has long been collected on ranches outside the boundaries of the National Park, but boundary changes for the expanding park have reduced those possibilities in the last two decades.  While limited collecting on the private ranches is still possible, the number of the best places producing beautiful wood like this one has been reduced.  We were delighted to be able to acquire this outstanding slab with excellent polish from an old collection.  Check your collection and if you don't have one this pretty -- time to upgrade!
6” x 4.5" on polished face; 1/4” thick slab    $89

Pine with pocket rot (Pinus sp.)
Little Butte Formation, Mehama Volcanics unit, Oligocene
McQueen Ranch, Sweet Home area, Linn County, Oregon
**  The McQueen Ranch has not produced petrified wood for quite a long time, but a recent logging operation and the attendant soil disruption has produced some really nice specimens and we think we got some of the best!  If you have been following our website during the past year you have already seen what interesting and beautiful specimens that the logging operation uncovered.  The lapidary that obtained nearly all of the logs and limbs continues to produce really neat pieces like this one, which is different!  The McQueen ranch is directly across the road from the famed Holleywood Ranch which has consistently produced enormous amounts of petrified wood, but the two neighboring sites could not be more different in mineralization.  As a matter of fact, the mineralization diversity at the McQueen site is simply remarkable.  This specimen is the core of an ancient pine tree which was attacked by pocket rot fungus producing the polka dot pattern.  There is enough well preserved structure on the surviving portion of the growth outside of the core to determine that it was a pine (see our photomicrograph to the right).  When the logging operation is complete and the trees begin to regrow, there won't be any more petrified wood discovered for a considerable period of time.  So, if you like the striking patterns produced by this lovely material we suggest you acquire a specimen for your own collection before it is all gone - we did!
7" x 6" on polished face; 7/16" thick slab  $119

Bald Cypress (Taxodium sp.)
Columbia Basalts Group, Miocene
Saddle Mountain, Washington
** Very aesthetic specimen of bald cypress from the slopes of Saddle Mountain.  This one exhibits the kind of growth rings that we like to say "...can be seen from across the room."  To add to its charm, there is an additional limb pressed right up to the side of the main full round.  A really interesting specimen - likely two separate dead and down branches fossilized together!

Bald cypress occurs mainly along riparian wetlands subject to periodic flooding by silt-rich "brownwater" rivers.  The generic name is derived from the Latin word "taxus" meaning "yew" and the Greek word "eidos" meaning "similar to."  The trees are especially prized for their heartwood because it is extremely rot and termite resistant. The heartwood of living trees contains a sesquiterpene called cypressene, which acts as a natural preservative.  Great example of a petrified taxodium specimen for your collection
5" x 5" on polished face; end cut varies from 1.5" to 1" thick  $47

Part Limb Cast/Part Conifer Petrifaction (Pinales Family)
Clarno Formation,  Lower Eocene
Congleton Hollow, South Fork Crooked River, Oregon
**  To borrow a line from Monty Python's Flying Circus - "Now for something completely different."  It is a really handsome combination of agate limb cast and petrification of wood. There is not sufficient structure in the petrification to get an identification of affinity down to genus level but the total lack of vessels in the petrified portion enables us to determine that it was a coniferous wood (Gymnospermae), not an angiosperm.  Best of all, the center of the limb is part of the petrified portion!  The polished face of this specimen has real “punch” -- with its separate portions of wood preserved among the white agate -- all set into a translucent clear limb cast.  We really do like this piece.  We have hunted at this site and can say from experience that nice limb casts in general are not easy to come by!  Limb casts with partial petrifications are very scarce.

Casts are formed in cavities in volcanic ash which were formerly occupied by wood. The hot ash completely destroys all (or in this case most of) the wood, leaving a mold with both the shape and with the exterior wood grain characteristics of the wood. At a later time, agate formed in the mold in the same shape as the limb; thus the name "limb cast."  This one is a really special piece.  The exterior has an abundance of wood grain character that makes for the kind of display specimen reflective of the best from the South Fork diggings.
3" x 2.25" on polished face; end cut varies from 2" to 1"  thick     $48

​Joshua Tree (Protoyucca shadishii)                              
Virgin Valley Formation,  Miocene
Badger Flat, Humboldt County, Nevada
** This is a rare wood offer, and you know that we don't "throw around" the designation of rare. Joshua Tree is one of the most scarce species of petrified wood that one can collect (others include Ginkgo, Mennegoxylon, and Trochodendron).  You may have seen a few pieces on offer here on our website, but that is because we got lucky, and not because Protoyucca is becoming more common. 
​Joshua Tree is a monocot - it sends 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).  A lot of the Joshua Tree suffered from heart rot (typical for monocots) and the centers were all gone before petrification started. Since it is a monocot, it does not have annual growth rings. Instead, it has an inner primary cylinder and an outer secondary cylinder.  The specimen we offer here is entirely secondary cylinder.  Most of the fossil Joshua Tree is mineralized in colors of gray and white.  This specimen is a bit different in that it has a much richer reddish color palette.  Even better, this piece was from very close to the bottom of the trunk and has a couple of rootlets - see the closeup above with the round structure.  This is a nice specimen of a rare wood.
3.5" x 2" on polished face; 1.5" thick end cut  $98

Beech (Fagus sp.)
Clarno Formation   Eocene
Central Oregon
** A very handsome slice of this species!  Check out our photomicrograph to the right.  Notice the difference in size between the medullary rays; some are thick and some are thin.  This is one of the distinguishing features between Beech and Sycamore.  Sycamore anatomy has great uniformity between all medullary rays - all are thin and same width.  Beech has thick ones and thin ones in between the thick ones.  Both of them have diffuse pores which are evenly distributed between the annual growth rings and both of them have similar pore diameters, so the medullary rays are one of the best clues that it is a Beech.  And this one is indeed a beech. 
5.75” x 4.75” on the polished face; 1/2" thick slab tapering to a thinner edge   $115

​Conifer (Pinales Order)
Absoraka Supergroup  Eocene
Tom Miner Basin, Montana
**  We don’t see a lot of wood from Tom Miner Basin these days, so we acquire them whenever we see them.  Only pieces from old collections (like this one) seem to come to market any longer.  The Basin is quite high in elevation and it is a very difficult hike to get into the wood-bearing localities.  Lower elevation specimens have largely disappeared except for those on a nature trail (and those are NOT available for collecting).  We particularly like the great pattern, the vugs containing nice bubbly chalcedony, and the way this specimen sits on its natural end for effective display.  And by the way, we've included a view of that natural, unpolished end cut side of this piece.  We think it is every bit as beautiful as the polished side with the bubbly chalcedony seen in relief.  Click the close-up views!
8” x 6” on polished face;  end cut varies in thickness from .25" to 2.5" (no knife edge)    $175 

Conifer (Pinales Order) 
Andesite and Basaltic overlapping flows  Middle Miocene
near Ironside, Oregon
** Once upon a time, we had some Black Locust slices from this locality and speculated that it might have been a single tree locality.  Now we know that there were more since this is a conifer from the same place.  Ironside is really just a wide spot in the road between Brogan and Cow Valley, Oregon.  All of the collecting sites in this area were likely single trees in the alternating and overlapping flows of Andesite, Basalt, along with an occasional rhyolite towards the top of the strata column.  It has not been named as a specific formation but it is identified as a separate lithologic unit on the USGS National Geologic Map Database.   Charming small slab with nicely patterned rot pockets -- from an Interesting locality.  Be sure to click for the close-up!
 4.25" x 3" on polished face; 3/16" thick slab   $46