A 165 million year old petrified tree stump is now on display in the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection, kindly donated by the National Dinosaur Museum.
A rare fossil dating back to the Jurassic era, this tree stump comes from the Wandoan region in Queensland.
Petrified wood forms when trees or plants fall and are buried by sediment in an environment free of oxygen. This initially preserves the original plant structure and general appearance. Mineral-laden water then flows through the tissues, replacing the organic plant structure with inorganic minerals such as quartz or calcite, pyrite or another inorganic material such as opal.
The end result is petrified wood, a plant with its original basic structure intact, but replaced by stone.
Did you know? “Petrified” comes from the ancient Greek word 'petro' meaning "rock" or "stone"; literally "wood turned into stone".