7.5" Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon) with Fungus Rot - Arizona

Petrified Wood (Araucarioxylon) with Fungus Rot - Arizona #172092

This is a stunning, 7.5" wide polished section of Late Triassic petrified wood (Araucarioxylon) from Navajo County, Arizona. It has been cut flat and polished on one face and one edge has been cut flat for presenation. The petrified wood contains fossilized fungus (the circular formations). This parasitic fungus grew on the tree while it was still alive and has been named Polyporites wardii. There is also an unidentified blue mineral between some of the brecciated wood fragments.

This wood is similar to petrified wood found in the Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook, Arizona. Its petrified forest encompasses nearly 100,000 acres, and is almost entirely represented by the extinct conifer Araucarioxylon arizonicum.

The petrified wood from Araucarioxylon arizonicum happens to be the state fossil of Arizona. It is frequently referred to as "rainbow wood" because of the large variety of colors some specimens exhibit. The reds and oranges come from hematite inclusions within the silica, the yellows from limonite, and the purples from extremely fine hematite spherules.

Araucarioxylon arizonicum is estimated to have grown more than 150 feet high and dominated the tropical forests in what is now Arizona nearly 225 million years ago.