Compound noun To Use Today: flos ferri.

 Yes, all right, this compound noun has no relevance to everyday life, but it sounds lovely and its physical beauty has brought out the poetry in the souls of geologists (and before now you might not have been completely confident that there was any poetry in the soul of geologists).

This is an example of flos ferri:

photo by Zbynek Burival

You may think it looks like coral, and you wouldn't be alone because its other names include Aragonite coralloide and Stalagmites coralloides. 

Flos ferri is also called flowers of iron, which is a translation into English of the Latin flos ferri. The Germans call it Eisenblüte, iron blossom. But it's basically a rock. 

(The rock's chemical formula is CaCO3, so the chemists among you will spot at a glance that there's absolutely no iron in the stuff at all.)

Still, it's pretty, isn't it? 

Well, it is except when it looks like a scouring brush:

photo by Tiia Monto

Flos Ferri is a manifestation of the mineral called Aragonite, and Aragonite is found in many kinds of sea shells, so perhaps the resemblance to coral isn't coincidental. 

As far as I know flos ferri has no practical uses whatsoever, except to bring beauty into our lives, and to bring out the poetry in the souls of geologists.

But, you know, I really think that's achievement enough.

Compound Word To Use Today: flos ferri.