This is a beautiful Medicine Bow Plume Agate Sphere (Medicine Bow is the area in Wyoming where this type of agate is found). Although the dendrites look like fossilized ferns or branches, they are really inorganic manganese oxide inclusions. Agate is a member of the Quartz family (specifically, a variety of Chalcedony), and has been used by many cultures as a Sacred Stone because of its stabilizing and balancing effect on the body, mind, emotions, and spirit. The incredible energy released by Dendritic Agate helps to bring us back into harmony with Mother Nature.