This may be the rarest fossil I’ve ever had the pleasure of cutting! While I have had the privilege of cutting and preparing fine specimens from all over the African continent, I’d never seen one like it from Madagascar – or anywhere else for that matter! The lobed growth structure and hollow pith are characteristics of Rhexoxylon and it was my strongest (albeit amateur) speculation that this is what it actually was. After a bit of research I found a 100 year old research paper that seems to describe it in perfect detail although the described specimen was found in South Africa. While I enjoy digesting all of the information I can find, I don’t pretend to be a paleobotanist. My subsequent searches have not found any published research on Rhex from Madagascar and this specimen may well indicate that someone should!! This is certainly a unique and likely important fossil specimen, and a particularly nice one at that! The growth structure is not quite the same as the Rhex I’ve offered from Zimbabwe as the structures nearest the pith are not as dominant in the cross section as their northern cousins. It’s still easy to recognize the centripetal and centrifugal xylem (botanist language for those inward and outward growing petal shaped structures that ring the heart of every Rhexoxylon) and I’ve included a microphoto to provide a glimpse of them here. In this specimen (as with the specimen described by Bancroft) t he outer growth structure is very much more dominant in these to the point that it makes the trunk look like regular conifers with giant rays aside from the odd lobed, fan like growth ring structure. I had cut only one other log from Madagascar that I suspected was a Rhex but was hesitant to be so bold as to say with certainty that I’d found one until I came across this log – it’s really a Rhexoxylon from Madagascar!! On top of everything else, it’s beautiful and richly colored and it took an incredible mirror finish to really bring both the color and fossil detail into clear focus. This is a very rare fossil for this forest as this was the first specimen of this type that I encountered in more than 20 metric tons of logs that I’ve cut and polished from this ancient, Triassic petrified forest! The best part is that it’s not just finely preserved (which could aid in formal descriptions of this fine specimen) but it is also extremely beautiful! This gorgeous, absolutely choice petrified wood round is the latest in a series of really nice, very colorful rounds that we’ve cut from some nice, larger logs we imported directly from Madagascar a couple of years ago. I met a new miner several years back that brought some petrified logs in from this distant island nation and what he had was by far the best I’d seen in many, many years – enough so that I travelled there myself to select several tons of the nicest cutting material I’d ever seen from this distant fossil forest. Very nice, brilliantly colored logs hand selected for wood structure and eye appeal are now producing world class collector specimens that we’re preparing with the finest mirror finish you’ve ever seen on petrified wood. This slab is among the first produced from this log and the color really is remarkable! In this case, I cut a medium sized, short log to produce some of the nicest and absolutely rarest collectible Madagascar rounds you’ll see! Since I’m the one that cut it, I was able to apply some of the craftsmanship I’ve learned over the years to avoid problems with flaked out fracture lines that are common in the imported specimens. I’ve also polished it to a much higher quality lustre than you find on the imported varieties. Even if you already have Madagascar wood in your collection, you owe it to yourself to see how nice these ancient treasures can be when properly prepared! This wood takes an extreme polish that looks just fabulous. It has a ton of detail and some of the nicest colors I’ve ever seen in petrified wood (and considering what we usually have on hand this is saying a lot). The starburst interior is nicely accented with a huge variety of colors all swirled with other natural tones that preserved the fibrous wood cell structure from this ancient tree fossil very well. The heart is clearly visible and there are some crystal filled cavities that penetrate the surface. It’s a striking Madagascar wood round sure to enhance any collection! This is a complete round cut from the center of a nice sized log. It shows the distinct structure Rhexoxylon africanum. This stone has been professionally polished on a special lap that produces a flat face and a mirror perfect shine. It is a full slab cut from the center of the log. The polish really is liquid perfect – a difference in the quality products Sticks-in-Stones has built its reputation on! It’s also quite large – it measures about 10 7/8 across the mirror polished face. It’s cut about 2/3 thick. Weight is 4.36 lbs. The item “SiS Rhexoxylon africanum EXTREMELY RARE 11 Madagascar Petrified Wood Round” is in sale since Sunday, May 19, 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.