Dendrites!

I love dendritic stones. If you don't know what that means, check out the photo above of my sandstone/limestone (I'm guessing) pendant. Those organic-looking branches are called dendrites. A stone with dendrites is called dendritic, e. g. dendritic agate. Dendrite is also used for other similar tree-like structures such as neurons, the patterns metal can make as it solidifies after being poured in an open mold and a certain mathematical shape (no, I didn't understand the Wikipedia description of that).

One of the main reasons I really like jasper and certain agates are that the colours and patterns can create beautiful images. It can look like like landscapes or scenic views, satellite or aerial photos or like abstract artworks. It's the same thing with dendritic stone. The dendrites look like seaweed, herbs, juniper branches, ferns or sometimes even whole trees. In agate, the translucence can create a fairytale mood, foliage veiled in milky mist and dreamy wisps of water. In sandstone and limestone, it can look like pencil drawings on aged and crumpled paper.

I found this particular piece in a charity shop. A very nice find in deed. It's not as big as in the photo, the close-up is for you to be able to see all the lovely details in the stone. I've also collected a few pics on this pinboard. A few pins ended up on other boards because they were sandstone, not jasper or agate so be sure to also check out pin 1, pin 2, pin 3 and pin 4 if you like dendritic stone or just want to get more ideas of what it can look like.