Petrified wood occurs across the state of Alabama, where it is often called “brilliant wood” because of its discovery near Brilliant and its lustrous sheen caused by cavities lined with quartz crystals. The specimen pictured here is 90 million years old (from the Cretaceous) and is a 4 foot pine-like log, discovered by forester Allen McMillion in southwest Tuscaloosa County circa 2000. Fossilized wood this large is a rare find.
There are actually five fossil plants on the Smith Hall grounds. Two of the tree-like stumps were purchased by Dr. Eugene Allen Smith from the widow of Professor John Hardy, a former president of La Grange College near Tuscumbia where the specimens were found. These early plant specimens date back to the Carboniferous Age; their nearest living relative is a club moss.
The Paleobotany Collection consists of more than 700 specimens, mostly from the Pennsylvanian and Cretaceous periods of Alabama, as well as petrified wood from Arizona. This collection is housed in the Mary Harmon Bryant Collections Facility.
Mary Beth Prondzinski, collections manager for the Alabama Museum of Natural History, provided the above information.