Chinese Desert Rose Gongshi on Hardwood Base

Dozens of sandy rosettes pile up on one another, like a bouquet that has spent a long time in the desert.

This desert rose gongshi comes from the Gobi Desert, China, and sits on a hard wood base. Desert roses form when gypsum or baryte crystallizes among grains of sand, and gongshi, or scholar's rocks, are natural stones chosen and displayed for their evocative forms. The cluster is made of countless thin, bladed crystals arranged in overlapping rosettes, all in a warm sandy tan. The silhouette is broad and irregular. It rests on a plain, dark rectangular hardwood base. It is 12 inches wide, 6.25 deep and 18.5 high.

Flowers that bloomed without water and kept their petals.