This slab is by any measure a really nice, particularly solid and colorful, medium sized slab cut from a choice petrified wood log from Madagascar! This is one of our single most interesting and prettiest Madagascar specimens in this size range that we’ve cut recently and a real beauty with a gorgeous finish! It’s a nearly perfectly shaped round with a beautiful scalloped rind and nicely centered heart and it provides a glimpse into the life of an Araucaria tree that stood nearly 200 million years ago! The incredible color variations preserved in the wood grain are truly classic for Madagascar and are testament to how beautiful the fossil gemstone trees of this island nation really can be! We’ve just about exhausted our supply in the smaller sizes of these wonderful specimens from this great log so don’t miss a chance at a nice one! This round isn’t the typical Pacific Northwest treasure that we specialize in either. It’s kind of a long story, but hey, this is a Sticks-in-Stones write-up after all :. I found a gentleman with several very colorful petrified logs from Madagascar a few years ago in Tucson. I was really taken by the material because it was so unusual for the location. Most of the Madagascar wood, though abundant, is very earth toned and doesn’t have a lot of pizazz – but these logs were clearly different, showing brilliant shades of green, red, violet and yellow in what were clearly well preserved, highly agatized logs. I picked through the lot and bought several and wow was I glad I did! They cut some of the nicest slabs and bookends I’ve ever cut from any wood anywhere! They were even better preserved than I thought, and in most cases the color improved as I cut deeper into the logs. And selected several more premium logs to work with in the shop. They’ll keep me busy for years, but you can bet I’m cutting the ones that show the most promise first and this is one of them! In this case, I cut a medium to smaller sized, short log to produce some of the nicest 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 colors revealed in this Araucaria log 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 the structure is finely detailed under magnification. It’s a striking Madagascar wood round sure to enhance any collection! It’s just amazing how beautiful petrified wood can be and this fine specimen found halfway around the world shows to what lengths people will go to bring these treasures to market! If you don’t own a top grade piece form this increasingly important deposit yet in your own collection, this is your chance. This is a perfect round cut from the center of a nice sized log. This stone has been professionally polished on a special lap that produces a flat face and a mirror perfect shine. The polish really is liquid perfect – a difference in the quality products Sticks-in-Stones has built its reputation on! It measures about 9 1/8″ x 7 1/8″ across the mirror polished face. It’s cut about 0.55 thick. Weight is 2.30 lbs. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Rocks, Fossils & Minerals\Fossils\Vegetation\Petrified Wood”. The seller is “rockshop” and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.