17/05/2026
I worked out that I have been digging fossil fern and fossil wood at Lune River for 40 years this year . Lune river in the far south of Tasmania has some of the worlds best fossil plants , they date to the Jurassic period around 180 million years ago when dinosaurs wandered the earth. These ancient tree ferns, pines and cycads are beautifully replaced by agate and jasper transforming a once living plant into a gemstone . The piece of tree fern in the picture is the species Osmundacaulis Janii , it is one of my favourites of the 15 or so species of fern found there . Replaced at cellular level by precious agate the ferns original cell structure is perfectly preserved under magnification . The large “eyes” eventually become the leaves and the tiny spots are the roots .This piece would make the most beautiful jewellery and one day I may slice it up to cut gems from but for now it sits in storage with hundreds of other pieces . The best jewellery grade fern is hard to find , often it is full of holes , badly preserved , black or poo brown . Occasionally an awesome piece like this is found , I especially like the highly agatised light coloured material . Nature amazes me . 13 cm long 10 cm deep
