Lithostrotionella - West Virginia's State Gem

Lithostrotionella or Silicified Mississippian Fossil Coral, was adopted as West Virginia's state gem in 1990.

Fossil Coral is not really a gemstone. It is a fossil. This coral lived about 340 million years ago, during the Mississippian Period. During that time, the state was covered by a shallow sea.

Coral may resemble plants, but they are actually animals. What you see in the picture above is the fossilized calcium carbonate skeleton of a coral colony. A coral colony is made up of many individual animals called polyps.

In West Virginia, Lithostrotionella is found almost exclusively in the Hillsdale Limestone of Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties in the southeastern part of the state.