Desert rose is the colloquial name given to rosette formations of the minerals gypsum and barite with poikilotopic sand inclusions. The 'petals' are crystals flattened on the c crystallographic axis, fanning open along characteristic gypsum cleavage planes.
The rosette crystal habit tends to occur when the crystals form in arid sandy conditions, such as the evaporation of a shallow salt basin. Gypsum roses usually have better defined, sharper edges than barite roses.
The desert rose may also be known by the names:
- sand rose
- rose rock
- selenite rose
- gypsum rose
- gypsum rosette
- barite rose
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Büdingen, Germany
Famous quotes containing the words desert and/or rose:
“In time the scouring of wind and rain will wear down the ranges and plane off the region until it has the drab monotony of the older deserts. In the meantime—a two-million-year meantime—travelers may enjoy the cruel beauties of a desert in its youth,....”
—For the State of California, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“I did not pray Him to lay bare
The mystery to me,
Enough the rose was Heaven to smell,
And His own face to see.”
—Ralph Hodgson (c. 1871–1962)