Petrified wood is real wood from real trees that have turned into stone.

What is this process of petrification you say? Mix some fallen tree trunks with real mud and a sprinkling of volcanic ash dissolved in water. Wait 200 million years, give or take a few, and you have wood whose very substance will have been completely replaced by crystalline quartz.

And depending on the chemistry of the volcanic ash and surrounding water, petrified wood literally bursts with color and pattern. Iron, copper, manganese, carbon, or silica, makes petrified wood look red, green, pink, black, or white respectively. The grain of the wood itself, its imperfections and often even its very cell structure, is preserved & frozen, in stone and in time.

Rather interesting science, but it’s their strange beauty that’s the reason they’re on exhibit today. Truly wonders of nature. A special thanks to Larry Gotuaco for opening my eyes, and yours, to this fascinating world, a world of trees of stone.