Barite rose, rock rose

Scientific Name: Barite
Variety: Barite rose; rock rose; desert rose
Chemistry Formula: BaSO4
Chemistry Type: Barite group
Image Number: ROM2004_977_1

This peculiar mineral specimen consists of approximately 300 clusters of barite crystals, where each platy crystal forms a 'petal' in a rose-like cluster. These barite 'roses' are also called 'rock roses' and 'desert roses'.

Minerals form in various ways: some crystallize from molten rock (magma), some are changed (metamorphosed) into new ones by the tremendous heat and pressure deep in the Earth. Others are created by chemical alteration of pre-existing minerals, and yet others like this barite crystallize from water solutions that are saturated with the right elements. In the case of the barite rock roses, the groundwater in red sandstone about one to two meters below the surface was saturated with barium and sulfate. Barite crystallized from this solution, enveloping the red-stained quartz grains of the sandstone as it grew. Many barite roses have weathered out from the rock and can be found loose in the overlying soil.

Barite roses are commonly recovered as single clusters. However, in 1995, the spectacular large group of crystals now in the ROM’s collection was discovered near Noble, a small town in Oklahoma. It took three weeks to excavate the specimen and it was so large and dirty that it was first cleaned by taking it through a car wash!

These “roses” have inspired legends: one commemorates the forcible relocation of the Cherokee from Georgia to Oklahoma, along the Trail of Tears; the tears they shed turned into roses. The barite rock rose was declared the State rock of Oklahoma.