Specimen · N°017 · Mineral
Lapidanthus pamukkalensis
Petrifying Flower
Only flowers touched by the spring water turn to stone.
FOUND 37.9°N 29.1°E · Pamukkale, Turkey · ✝ EX · Last seen 1985
Only flowers touched by the spring water turn to stone.
A perennial 10–16 cm tall, with thick grey-green leaves and small pale yellow-white flowers. Constantly touched by calcium-rich spring water, it is coated from its base in a white mineral crust; old plants eventually harden like stone in the very shape of their flowers.
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Only flowers touched by the spring water turn to stone.
Almost no one has seen that moment.
The white travertine terraces of Pamukkale, Turkey.
At the water's edge fed by calcium-rich springs, the Petrifying Flower takes root.
Thick grey-green leaves spread low along the water's rim.
At their centre, a small pale yellow-white flower opens.
