About Desert Roses

Identification

• Formed in arid areas, desert roses are crystal-like in nature and have a rosette shape. They can look like flowers that have turned to stone. They can also appear like breakfast cereal flakes bound together haphazardly. Since the outsides of the stone have bonded with sand, they take on the color of the sand.

Types

• Desert roses form out of two minerals. One of those is barite, which is the heavier of the two. The other is a type of gypsum called selenite. Selenite is one of the softer minerals, able to be scratched with something that is as soft as a fingernail. On the Moh's scale of hardness designed for minerals, selenite rates a 2. To put this in perspective, a diamond is a 10 and talc is a 1. Desert roses made of gypsum have more defined edges than those composed of barite.

Geography

• Desert roses are found in areas of the Earth where arid conditions exist, hence the desert part of the name. Countries such as Egypt, Mexico, Libya, and Saudi Arabia produce desert roses, as do New Mexico, Oklahoma and California in the U.S. The barite rose rock has been named the state rock of Oklahoma. Once these rock formations reach the surface, they are eroded quickly by the forces of wind and water unless collected.

Size

• The largest single desert rose ever found that was formed from barite measured 17 inches long and 10 inches high. It weighed 125 pounds, but most desert roses are considerably smaller, ranging from a half inch to 4 inches. The selenite desert roses are smaller and lighter than those that formed from barite.

Considerations

• Desert roses are collected and sold as decorative ornaments. The barite types can "grow" in clusters, sometimes weighing several hundred pounds. These can come in some odd shapes, resembling animals, hollow logs and bird's nests. Some collectors of desert roses will sell their finds to shops that in turn sell them to the public.