Chinese Desert Rose Gongshi on Hardwood Base

Dozens of sandy rosettes pile on top of each other, as if the desert had tried its hand at a bouquet.

This desert rose gongshi on hardwood base comes from the Gobi Desert, China, and is gypsum crystal on hard wood. Desert roses form when gypsum crystallizes in damp sand, growing flat blades that cluster into petal-like rosettes, and their flower shapes have made them a favorite among collectors of natural stones. Here a large, irregular mass is built entirely from these rosettes, each a whorl of thin, sand-colored crystal plates. The mass rises in lumpy towers. A dark, square two-tiered wooden base holds it. It is 9 inches wide, 6 deep and 13.5 high.

The only roses that never need watering.