Desert rose is the colloquial North African name given to floral rosette-shaped clusters that appear either as a single rose-like bloom or as clusters of blooms of the mineral gypsum or baryte, which include abundant trapped sand grains. Also, Selenite and Celestine can form desert roses.

Moroccan Gypsum roses usually have well defined, sharp disc type edges, more so than baryte roses. The disc-like petals are amalgamated crystals, which radiate out in flattened forms.

The rosette crystal habit tends to occur when the crystals form in arid sandy conditions, as in the evaporation processes of shallow salt basins or desert region.

The desert roses of the Moroccan western desert take on the habit of the local environs, which are heavily influenced by iron content, thus having an attractive reddish or pinkish colour.

Alabaster a variety of gypsum has been used for sculpture by many cultures the Ancient Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Ancient Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the sculptors of Medieval England.

SPEC

Chemical formula: CaSO4. 2H2O
Age: 250,000,000 - 500,000 years.
Origin: Errachidia province, Draa valley, Tafilalt region, Morocco.

SIZE

H: 25 cm
W: 31 cm
D: 14 cm

OVERALL

H: 32cm
W: 31 cm
D: 14 cm
KG: 4.314 Kg