Petrified Peanut Wood

Petrified Peanut Wood Stone from Australia shaped and polished into a cabochon.  Stone cabochons are gemstones which have been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted.  The resulting form is usually a convex (rounded) front with a flat reverse.  Stone cabochons are utilized by jewelry artists and designers to create unique wearable art.  This unique, natural Petrified Peanut Wood Stone Cab will give your stone jewelry designs a unique, high-quality appearance making it a one-of-a-kind treasure!

Peanut wood is a variety of petrified wood that is usually dark brown to black in color. It is recognized by its white-to-cream-color markings that are ovoid in shape and about the size of a peanut. It received its name from these peanut-size markings. It is a fossil gem with a very unusual history.

Much of the peanut wood being sold today began its life as a conifer tree on land in the area now known as Western Australia. When these trees died, rivers carried them into a shallow, salty epicontinental sea that covered much of what is now the Australian continent.

They arrived at the sea as a piece of driftwood. This was during the Cretaceous time period, when a species of marine clam that loved to eat wood lived in the Australian sea. The clam larvae were able to smell nearby wood and swim to it. When they arrived at a piece of driftwood, they would attach themselves to it and start eating. A tiny pair of valves soon developed on one end of their long body, and they used the sharp edges of their shell as a rasp. They shaved off tiny particles of wood - which they would promptly eat. In a few weeks they could excavate a deep tunnel into the soft, mushy wood.

Peanut Wood is a Stone of the earth.  Helps to recollect the lessons learned from the past.   Aids in accepting change in one’s life.