Name/Title
Pepper TreeEntry/Object ID
78.58.372Description
Assemblage Zone: calcareous sediments
Chemical Composition: Si O2
Crystal System: Hexagonal
Description: Genus: Schinoxylon
Common name: Pepper tree
Age: Eocene
Location data: Blue Forest, Wyoming USA
Description: A 5/8" (1.6 cm) thick slice of a piece of petrified wood encased in algae. Polished side shows oval center with a circular piece of wood in middle in browns and beiges, some black seen by blue grey agate (in front of areas), and some crystal with pieces of breccia wood along the edges, (brown, beiges and black).
Central zone is encased by petrifie algae, immediate band around wood sone is in a medium toned grey and tan with come creamy filler, outer most band is in pinkish, greyish beige with silicate filler. Delmar believed it was possibly from the Jurassic period (Mesozoic era) Wyoming Doug Foster identified this as a pepper tree from the Eocene epoch in the Green River Formation. The Green River Formation is a Eocene geologic formation that has recorded the sedimentation in a series of intermountain lakes environments created during the uplift of the Rocky Mountains by the Sevier (in the west) and Laramide orogenys.
Type of Fossils Present: Plants
Fracture: conchoidal
Grain Size: Fine
Hardness: 7 Quartz
Lithofacies: Volcanic Ash / lake sedim
Luster: Glassy
Occurrence: Silicified wood, which is the fossilization and opalization of organic woody matter by the deposition of SiO2 in a anaerobic environment to prevent decay. This means that the wood must somehow be buried in an oxygen free enviroment, possibly in the silt-laden river or the bottom of a lake or buried by volcanic ash or volcanic related mudflow. The organic material is then replaced by (SiO2) silica, other minerals determined its colors.
Pressure: Low-Moderate
Rock Color: Medium
Rock Origin: Post-depositional
Rock Type: Sedimentary
Specific Gravity: 2.6
Surface Process: Not apparent
Temperature: Low
Texture: microcrtystalline
Variety: Petrified woods ar hydrous microcrystalline varieties of quartz that can be generally termed as chalcedony .Collection
Petrified Wood CollectionAcquisition
Accession
78.58Source or Donor
Delmar Smith Petrified Wood CollectionAcquisition Method
DonationOther Names and Numbers
Other Number
Other Number: 1978.58.372Dimensions
Width
6 inDepth
11/16 inLength
9-3/4 inDimension Notes
Dimensions taken at widest pointsLocation
Location
Display Case
PW-8Room
Petrified Wood RoomBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
ExhibitMoved By
Jillian Mather KettleyDate
May 28, 2025Notes
Location update
