Fir cone measuring 72mm of an ovoid shape, an interesting morphology of the exterior ovules pattern, which once pollinated by the male cones develop into seeds. A woody cone is a strobilus or strobili in plural, strobili are sporangia, spore-bearing structures. Once mature the cone would start to break up, much like modern cones. Interestingly this cone appears not to have reached the stage of maturity and therefore has not open and has been covered quickly with sediments. The cone has been left intact not cut into two halves. A very good study specimen, beautiful with subtle colourations of pale creams to soft pinks.

A sudden event covered this fossil fir cone and petrification has prevented the cone to mature, the process has halted the life of the tree and female cone to produce its seeds after fertilisation of the male cone and so we can observe in detail this unique structure from a hidden past of the Jurassic forests of Patagonia.

Fir cones hold the secrets of an ancient time, from the Jurassic fossils of Pangea the time capsule may contain exotic colours of minerals like a jasper, which once surrounded the cone as it a decade in sodden sediments in the primaeval forest. Flooding and the action of per-mineralisation, a silicification process, cell by cell replacement, water coursing (minerals rich) under pressure replaces the living tissue turning the fir cone to stone and can create a wonderful array of different coloured quartz, jaspers and chalcedony. That is yet the mystery within this uncut cone...

Genus: Araucaria Mirabilis.
Origin: Cerro Cuadrado, Jaramillo forest, Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina.
Age: Mesozoic era, Jurassic approximately 205 - 135 million years.

Fir cone measurements.
Height: 7.2 cm
Width: 5.4 cm
Depth: 3.5 cm

Weight: 0.167 g