Texas: petrified palm wood (state stone)
Texas: petrified palm wood (state stone)
Texas' official state stone is actually a fossil, petrified "palm" wood assigned to the botanical form genus Palmoxylon. This means that the structure of the wood resembles that of modern palms, although it may or may not be closely related to them.
This wood is the petrified remains of trees that grew on the Gulf Coastal Plain during the Oligocene Epoch, around 30 million years ago. At that time the shore of the Gulf of Mexico was further north than it is now, which explains why the wood is usually found in the more northern areas of the state, particularly the Toledo Bend area. These deposits also extend into Louisiana and Mississippi. Of all the petrified wood found in Texas, petrified palm wood is the most common.
The petrified wood formed when a tree died and was buried by sediments. Minerals in the groundwater permeated the wood, replacing the original organic matter and turning the wood to stone. The main mineral is silica, but trace elements in the silica impart a variety of colors to the petrified wood.
Petrified palm wood officially became the Texas state stone on March 26, 1969, after measures passed both the House and Senate.
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