The "Chrysanthemum Stone" occurs naturally in Enshi, Hubei
Province, China. As the name implies, it is shaped like a Chrysanthemum
flower. Most of the specimens are collected from river beds.
The actual "flowers" are embedded in a grey limestone with the
minerals Celestite and Calcite constituting the "petal"
and Chert the "stamen".
Normally
the diameter of the flower ranges from 5 to 8 cm with the maximum
being 50cm, The "flowers" are varied in shape with their
petals stretching out freely in different attitudes.The "Chrysanthemum
Stones" contains more than ten kinds of trace elements such
as Selenium, Strontium, Gold, Silver and Bismuth.They are considered
to be of Permian age (approx. 250 million years).
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