Bottlebrushes are formed when stalactites become immersed in a cave pool for a long period of time. For this to occur, a change in waterflow into the area beneath the stalactite had to occur to produce a pool. This often accompanied changes in climate which brought more rain, such as during the Pleistocene. Rather than continuing to grow longer, the stalactite will become coated with pool spar if the pool is supersaturated with calcite. The first photo shows a classic example of a bottlebrush from a California show cave, Black Chasm Cavern. The photo below that is from Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico, and also shows a coating formed in a subaqueous environment, but in this instance mammilaries rather than spar crystals have formed the coating..

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	Created: June 19, 1995 Last Updated: December, 2003 Author: Dave Bunnell