Our featured specimen

​Conifer (Pinales Order) 
Tertiary Volcanics
Goldfield, Nevada
**  Yes, Goldfield Nevada was much warmer and wetter during Miocene time.  Sage brush now thrives where once forests grew in profusion in what are now the deserts of Nevada’s Basin and Range country.  Here is a handsome slab of petrified wood from diggings near Goldfield to prove the point.  We no longer see very much material from this locality, so we felt fortunate to get this one.  Of course, the bonanza for prospectors was the discovery of rich gold veins in this region.  But, the bonanza for petrified wood collectors is a beautiful slab with light purple accents.  
5” x 3” on polished face; 3/8” thick slab   $60

Undetermined dicot angiosperm wood (Incertae sedis)
Little Butte Formation, Mehama volcanics unit, Oligocene
Rock Hill Drive, Lebanon, Linn County, Oregon
** Here's a new find from a construction project on Rock Hill Drive in Lebanon.  It is the same Linn County petrified forest, but completely different mineralization than other areas in the county.  This log was dead and down - very few patches of wood anatomical structure remain but the pattern created by the rot and compression is extraordinary.  Almost no fossil wood has ever been found in Lebanon since it is further out in the Willamette Valley than most of the rest of the county.  The town is on the edge of the Mehama Volcanics unit and the unit at that point is buried under the valley floor alluvium, so it is not generally accessible.  If you are a locality collector aiming to add as many different localities as possible to your collection, this may be your one-time opportunity to add Lebanon. 
7.5" x 5.5" on polished face; 7/16" thick slab   $78

​​Conifer  (Pinales Order)
Miocene
Congleton Hollow, South Fork Crooked River, Oregon
** This could have been one of those limb casts for which Congleton Hollow is understandably so famous but instead, nearly all of the wood survived and the agate ended up filling one large and several small cavities plus encircling the log with a lovely translucent periphery.  We have occasionally seen part casts/part petrifications from this legendary site but this one is by far the most complete specimen in that category that we have ever seen.  There is even a patch of green moss agate at the six o'clock position in our photo.  Somehow the hot volcanic ash burned its way into this cavity of the log so that it was left empty to allow for eventual filling by the agate.  What a fantastic specimen!  It has excellent display aesthetics (and green!) in addition to the unique story that it tells.
6.5" x 5" on polished face; end cut varies from 1 3/4" to 1 3/8"  $159

​Black locust with pocket rot (Robinia sp.)
Trout Creek Formation    Miocene
Private Ranch near McDermitt, Oregon/Nevada border
** A very successful dig on the private portion of Zimmermann Ranch in 2019 uncovered a trove of excellent and diverse fossil woods and we think we got some of the best ones!  This dig was by a member of the Zimmermann family on the land owned by the family - we note that public Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands adjacent to the family ranch have long been excavated by rockhounds and simply referred to as Zimmermann Ranch even though the actual land is public domain.  The fossil record seems to indicate that the genus Robinia may have originated in North America and has been here since at least the Oligocene.  However, the fact that it is fast growing, very dense and exceptionally durable, has made it a plantation species that is now planted in rows throughout Europe and parts of Asia, since it is fast growing it can be harvested early.  The durability of black locust is an interesting factor in the slab we are presenting here; durability means resistance to fungus rot and bacterial destruction, yet our slab has plenty of pocket rot, especially at the center of the heartwood.  Over the years we have seen a lot of this genus from McDermitt but very little of it had pocket rot fungus.  AND, that which we have seen in the past was not exceptionally attractive like this one!  If unique and aesthetic qualities are part of your collecting strategy, then this is a must have for you.
4” x 4" on the polished face; 3/8” thick slab   $45

​Primitive Conifer (Araucarioxylon arizonicum) 
Chinle Formation, Triassic
Patton Ranch, near Holbrook, Arizona
** This lovely slab from the old Patton Ranch on the west boundary of the Petrified Forest National Park is a classic example of the colorful material often called "Rainbow Wood" because it is exactly the same deposit as the National Park Rainbow Forest which is just across the Park's boundary next to Patton Ranch.  Red, Yellow, white, black, and blue-gray are all in this lovely slab.  Of course there are plenty of similar logs across that boundary in the Petrified Forest National Park but those cannot be collected so that they will be there for future generations to enjoy in place.  This slab, from a private ranch, is a simply gorgeous piece of wood, and as we like to say, "There's always room for one more good one!"  
6” x 4.5" on polished face; 1/4” thick slab   $54

 
​​Limb Cast
Miocene Volcanic Deposits
Texas Springs, Nevada
**  A real gem from a classic locality.  These limb casts have been a favorite of rockhounds for over 75 years.  It is quite possible that they are roots, not limbs, but we have gone with the conventional name of "limb" cast here.  Look at the amazing character of the exterior of this specimen -- plenty of aesthetic character here.  It comes out of Miocene volcanic deposits in the Great Basin Desert of Nevada.  One just can't have too many of these gems!
1.25" x 1" on polished face; 4.5" long limb/root cast   $40

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​Wood with pocket rot  (Alangium sp.)
Whitsett Formation, Late Eocene to Early Oligocene
Lake Livingston, Trinity County, Texas
**  One doesn't need a microscope -- though it would add proof (!) of of just how beautiful this wood structure is!   This is a gorgeous slab. 

This genus does not have a common name in English of which we are aware.  During Whitsett time in Texas the semi-tropical climate produced many genera that are now restricted to latitudes much farther south.  Alangium is often not represented in the collections of even the most advanced petrified wood collectors.  We have been lucky enough in the past to have a few of this genus in our inventory, but this is the first time we have seen wood of this genus with such a significant amount of beautifully aesthetic pocket rot.  This specimen has some really excellent preservation of woody fine structure!  It is possible that our Texas friends have some of this material out of the Whitsett Formation, so we are happy we can share in it with those of us who don't ...  This will be a smart addition to the collection of an avid petrified wood species and/or locality collector.
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7" x 6" on polished face, 3/8” thick slab   $195  (and we will throw in the 10% discount, which we normally reserve for orders exceeding $200) 

Conifer (Pinales Order)
Tertiary
Austin, Oregon
** Unique locality specimens of conifer!  The general locality is  "Austin, Oregon."  Since we were unable to pinpoint the exact location where this log was excavated, we can't assign more than a general age of Tertiary to it.  But we are confident in the provenance of Austin.  The vicinity of Austin has some quite complex Tertiary geology.  There are Eocene outcrops of the Clarno Formation and Miocene outcrops of river deposited volcanic sediments which lasted into the early Pliocene.  Since we have never seen any other wood from Austin and the literature is silent on fossil wood from the area, we can safely assume that it was likely only a single log or two that could be found, and whatever was there was totally harvested.  This material came out of an old collection and we don't expect to see any more of it in the future.  So, we will simply settle for the beauty of the piece, with its color and pattern being particularly stunning.

​There are two choices of this great specimen
Specimen 1 above -- a wonderfully brecciated partial round with pathways of white and clear chalcedony that accentuate the darker decaying bits of wood. 
8" x 7.5" on brecciated wood polished face; 7/16" thick slab  $300

Specimen 2 above -- a full round with a swirling two-tone pattern.  
​6.5" x 6" with two-tone polished face; 7/16" thick slab  $275

Choose one or both - you may likely never see another chance to score a specimen from this unique locality.  (Each specimen qualifies for our 10% discount on orders totaling $200 or more.)

Primitive Conifer (Araucarioxylon arizonicum)
Chinle Formation, Triassic
Twenty-Two Draw,  Arizona
** Great things about this piece?  Well to start, there is the lively name of the locality -- Twenty-Two Draw.  Old west throwback!  And then there is obviously the pink to orange to salmon color -- contrary to popular belief, not all Arizona wood from the Chinle looks like this.  Another impressive feature? An impressive slash of agate decorating the center.  This piece also has its manageable size as an asset as well – 5" diameter on the polished face -- and therefore easy to perch on a stand or shelf.  The Twenty-Two draw area has produced really notable pink- and salmon-hued petrified wood in the mid 20th century with great patterns in white and gray, but it surely is commonplace on the market.  We were delighted to be able to acquire this gorgeous slab with excellent polish. You will not be disappointed by this color!  We work diligently to ensure that our colors are represented fairly in our photographs, and this one will not disappoint.  
5” diameter on  polished face; 5/16” thick slab   $62

Ancient Redwood  (Sequoia sp.)
Columbia Plateau Basalts Group
Miocene
Saddle Mountain, Washington
**  An exceptional piece from Saddle Mountain with clear and crisp aesthetic growth rings and a really lavender pink eye-catching presence!  This incredible display-quality specimen is further enhanced by the cavity which emanates from the center.  This cavity is filled with bubbly white chalcedony over its entire surface.  There are similar bubbles of chalcedony dripping off of the exterior rind of this slab as well!  A truly outstanding piece.  Got some Saddle Mountain wood in your collection?  Here’s an opportunity to add an extraordinary piece!
10.5” x 5.5” on polished face; 1/2” thick slab   $225

Oak (Quercus sp.)
Columbia Plateau Basalts Group, Miocene
Deschutes Canyon, Oregon
**  A VERY nice slab of oak from this legendary locality.  The site was on top of the canyon walls about four miles upstream of the confluence of the Deschutes River and the Columbia River.  In recent years, the ranchers who own the land on the sides of the canyon walls have closed their property to collecting.  As a consequence, this especially nice material has now become much more difficult to obtain so we were pleased to find this one at one of the Oregon shows.  This specimen has the nice characteristics that make Deschutes Canyon material desirable -- excellent eye appeal, nice sharp definition of medullary rays, great pattern enhanced by the rot pocket in the upper center.  This one is destined for inclusion in someones display case!  Click photo for a closer view ... and then don't let this one get away!
6.5" x 5.5" on polished face; 3/8" thick slab    $149