HEFEI -- Chinese scientists have discovered a petrified forest believed to date back one to two million years in east China's Anhui Province.

The 200-square-meter forest, in which the trees has turned into silica, was discovered in Xianyu Mountain, Dongzhi County. Some of the petrified tree stood as tall as 3.5 meters and were 1.2 meters in diameter, said She Xianbing, an official with Dongzhi tourism bureau.

Scientists with Nanjing Institute of Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, says the forest are the fossilized remains of pine and cypress, China fir and apricot trees.

She says the forest will help scientists better understand the formation of the earth, prehistoric climate and vegetation.

The petrified forest was buried in silica until recently when rains washed away the top soil and exposed the remains of the trees.