24.04.2026 – 18.04.2027
The exhibition ‘Iron Rose and Chrysanthemum Stone’ explores the theme of ‘flower names’ in mineral nomenclature. When naming unknown rocks or minerals, some mineralogists liked to draw on familiar things. Sometimes the appearance or properties of a mineral were compared to those of plants, such as their shape or colour. The appearance of chrysanthemum stone is reminiscent of a chrysanthemum flower, whilst the structure of iron rose, with its many thin haematite lamellae, resembles that of a rose blossom. Many minerals have the suffix ‘blossom’ in their historical names, as in iron blossom or nickel blossom. The name iron blossom is a reference to its floral character. The term ‘nickel bloom’ suggests the way the mineral forms: it grows anew on rock or ore, virtually ‘blooming’ out of it. The floral-like colourfulness of many minerals found its way into numerous mineral names in earlier times. References of botanical origin can be found, for example, in rose quartz, raspberry spar, rhodochrosite, praseite or olivine
Iron Rose and Chrysanthemum Stone
24.04.2026 – 18.04.2027
Naturkundemuseum
Joanneumsviertel, 8010 Graz
www.naturkunde.at
