Suzrusk Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Hello all, my dad acquired this item. He was told it was a petrified mushroom. Has anyone seen one of these or can confirm? thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 It may be a mushroom, but probably not fossilized or mineralized. Could be just very old and very dehydrated/desiccated. 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 This really looks like wood: a knot or a burl. Note growth rings on back side. 2 7 My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyw Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) My first thought was wood too…. Can we get some side views? Edited January 25, 2023 by Randyw 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 It looks like essentially a scab that has grown over the spot where an abscised limb became infected. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 (edited) Hello Suzrusk and welcome to the forum! I think that is what I have heard called "tree cancer", although its not structured like cancer in animals. When a damaged tree gets infected by fungi, like Rockwood said, often in the cold and wet season the fungus grows faster than the tree, reaching the surface. In the warm and dry season, the tree tries to close the lesion by rapid growth, over and over again. That way these layered gnarly outgrowths are built. So its rather a lignified mushroom than a petrified one. Best Regards, J Edited January 25, 2023 by Mahnmut spelling 4 Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 These growths are likely more resistant to rot than most wood cells are. I've seen the odd cone shape as a collar on the branch when much of the trunk has rotted away. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzrusk Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 8 hours ago, Randyw said: My first thought was wood too…. Can we get some side views? I can get side views it happen to be at our family cabin so it may be a few weeks before I can get one. It is really heavy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Thinking about the size of this I wonder if the layers we see arent the original tree rings, somehow eroded out instead of what I described above. I´d expect the side view to look somewhat bowl-shaped. Either way I am quite sure this is some interesting kind of wooden growth, not a fossil. Best Regards, J Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzrusk Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 Thank you. It is bowl shaped. I will have side pictures posted in a few weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 15 hours ago, Randyw said: My first thought was wood too…. I have to second this thought. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Take it from a wood turner--this is a nice example of a modern wood burl. They are usually formed by bacterial or viral infections and can form a wide variety of abnormal growth patterns in the grain pattern and growth ring structure. The darker inner section is either heartwood or rotting wood from an infection. https://www.google.com/search?q=wood+burl&tbm=isch https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/what_is_the_difference_between_sapwood_and_heartwood I can also see "checking" which is the cracking and splitting when wood dries too fast--something woodworkers try to avoid or minimize. Nice modern piece of woodworking and not a fossilized mushroom which are so rare as to be virtually nonexistent. Cheers. -Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzrusk Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 Hum… interesting. I am familiar with burls and it isn’t like that. To me it is similar in look to a shelf mushroom. Once I get a side view that may help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzrusk Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 From the front I would agree that I get the 'wood ear' shelf fungus feel from it. From he back I see nothing but wood texture. Perhaps this piece of artistic carving was made to resemble such a fungus or was inspired by the same. Does not have the right texture for a fungus and like is heavier and more dense than you'd expect for a shelf fungus. Cheers. -Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 I'm going for all of the above, with the exception of a mushroom. The dark center may well have had fungus growing in it, but I see no indication of a fruiting body. The tree produced normal, but perhaps accelerated, growth rings in response to the infection. This was eventually overgrown by the disturbed grain seen in burl. 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzrusk Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 Is there a way to determine the age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Suzrusk said: Is there a way to determine the age? If it is indeed fossilized (stone), the best way would be to determine where it came from. Is it a fossil ? That's a different process. Just occurred to me. If it isn't it will burn. Edited January 26, 2023 by Rockwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Does it feel like stone or wood? What sound do you hear if you tap it with something hard (like a screwdriver)? Does it give a dull thud like you would expect if you tapped a wooden bowl or ring as you would expect if you tapped a ceramic bowl? If it behaves like wood (which is what I would expect from the images I see--all I have to go on) then it is modern and its age would be counted in years and not millions of years. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzrusk Posted January 26, 2023 Author Share Posted January 26, 2023 Thanks Ken I will have to do that test when we head back to the cabin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted January 26, 2023 Share Posted January 26, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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