many wildflowers.. thrive in soil with SHARP drainage ...

and the best sharp drained soil.. is rocky ....

in the mountains.. its called scree .... and the wildflowers love it .. see link ..

i too would like to know the rock.. but i doubt the rock itself is the key.. its the drainage of the soil ..

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

It is beautiful. Is the rock soft like shale? Shale can come in other colors depending upon what other minerals are present.

Either way, if you look for geological resources for Arkansas, you should be able to find some suggestions as to what it might be given the location. I linked in one that I found. A local geologist could also tell you. Look for a local rock and mineral club, museum, or college for leads to a local rock expert.

FataMorgana

Here is a link that might be useful: Arkansas Geology

at my link.. down the page..a big black block for some cave.. the next pic.. looks similar...

ken

Looks like petrified wood

Thanks for the link and suggestions fatmorgana. It took me a while to follow up. Those multicolored rocks are, as you suggested, shale. They're probably from the Womble formation, sometimes dense in coverage and mixed in with localized pockets of embedded limestone. The resultant shale barrens are inhospitable to most introduced species, and often host wildflowers that are unknown outside of Arkansas.

Very cool. Thanks for the follow up. It is always nice to know what people have found out. When I was a little kid I waffled between being a geologist and an archaeologist - neither happened but I have retained a healthy love for both and enjoyed the follow up.

By the way, our shale here is a very dull, grey color but it is loaded with fossils - trilobites, corals, shells, and more. The rock is so soft you can often work the fossils loose with your fingers.

FataMorgana

Our local shale:

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A fossil (brachiopod) that popped loose of the shale boulder above with just fingers:

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