You are looking at one of the most beautiful, largest, full round slabs of petrified wood I’ve ever seen from the Australian petrified forests. The color, shape and wood grain are among the best I’ve ever handled and to find something like this in a full round this large is beyond what anyone could hope when trudging off to these events. I had confidence it would be good but I simply couldn’t believe my eyes when the first cut revealed what lay beneath the weathered patina of this ancient stone. The wood grain in this specimen is simply unbelievable – it is a truly mirror perfect cross section view into one of the largest trunks I’ve personally seen from this Australian petrified forest! In a quarter century of cutting and collecting, I’ve never seen one this large, let alone with such appealing color and easily visible wood grain in such a gorgeous shape! The structure appears to be a conifer with strong rays but could actually be something more complex in the fossil record. I’ve included a microphoto to show the strong rays and minute structure between them. This is really a fantastic, impressively sized, museum grade specimen from this distant petrified forest and among the finest I’ve ever seen from Australia! It would make a grand centerpiece in any collection. And of course, you know we’ve polished this premium specimen to an absolute mirror finish! The face is speckled with flecks of shining metallic iron minerals (hematite or magnetite) that polished along with the wood and are visible in the microphoto as well! I spotted a notice of an estate sale not far from my home that included a reference to petrified wood and decided to go take a look. I had never met the gentleman that operated this particular rockshop and was very surprised to see the quantity of stone he had amassed over the years of his life. I’ve understood for a long time that I’m only a temporary caretaker of the ancient stones I accumulate for potential cutting and I’m sure this fellow understood it as well. Like most estates, there was a lot of material I already had more than a lifetime supply of, but there were a few curious piles that showed he had a connection to Australian rocks at some point, including several large ones. There was a single large Australian log heel that hinted at an unprecedented connection to large wood, something I’d always wanted but never found despite knowing several of the world’s best stone exporters from that continent. This stone had to have been acquired decades ago as nothing that size has been seen since I started my shop in the 90’s. Back in one corner of the yard I spotted a pallet with four large white stones that had a patina on them that looked like Rodger’s Mountain petrified wood. On close examination I could see some tiny chips in the patina that revealed just enough ribbons of color to tell me that these amorphous lumps were actually massive, uncut petrified logs from Australia! Once I trucked the stones back to my shop I could see this one had the potential to be a full round and indeed it was – and gloriously colorful as well! My good fortunate can now be yours as you have the opportunity to acquire a world class Australian petrified wood round at an every day collector price. The petrified wood in Australia almost looks like it could come from the Pacific Northwest – which is saying a lot! The logs are typically water worn and smooth, but preserved in an exceptional high grade agate. The wood reminds me a lot of the petrified driftwood specimens we find here at the Rogers Mountain dig in Oregon, but the Australian logs have better wood grain and often have the heart of the log still preserved perfectly in the specimen (Rogers Mountain is usually just chunks of driftwood without the heart). The agatization is some of the best I’ve seen in petrified wood from any location. It takes a fantastic polish which really brings out every detail in the finely patterned growth rings and even the cell structure is easily visible under a hand lens. At first glance, this wood appears to be a conifer like the fir trees we find around here, but under magnification the cell structure looks more complicated and I’m uncertain as to the true species. It has the wavy ray structure between each clearly visible growth ring that reminds me of juniper or spruce. What I can tell you is that it’s beautiful and very well prepared so you end up with a world class specimen for your own collection and study! This round is complete and virtually flawless. There are some stress fissures in the stone that are partly healed. It was sliced from the center of a log, and is preserved in natural, rich colors with a few hints of red for a nice accent. The heart is nicely centered in this round – a great collector piece! This piece measures about 14 1/4″ x 10 1/4″ across the polished face and is about 3/4 thick. The item “SiS MASSIVE 14+ RED Australian Petrified Wood Round COLLECTION CENTERPIECE” is in sale since Sunday, April 21, 2019. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Rocks, Fossils & Minerals\Fossils\Vegetation\Petrified Wood”. The seller is “rockshop” and is located in Beaverton, Oregon. This item can be shipped worldwide.