Out and about in Wake county, close to Falls lake. Digging under some of the leaves and found this in the dirt. I'm a novice, so forgive me for being ignorant. Is this a fragment of a geode? I'm picturing the face shown in the second two pictures would be the "inside" face, hence the bubbly/droplet-y texture on those crystals. And a quick secondary question- how does one clean out the residual iron stains on a specimen like this. Will Iron Out sold in the store work if this piece sits in a solution of that?

Hey Matt, Good question and good pictures. Thank you very much.

Technically speaking a geode is any rock with a cavity lined with some sort of mineral, so yes, you can find that in NC. But no, we do not have any of the classic round hollow drusy lined geodes, from the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, Mexico, or Brazil, that most folks picture when thinking about geodes.

What we mostly have in NC are veins of quartz that, if you're lucky, will 'open up' and accommodate some sort of mineral growth.
In the example pictured below, the quartz vein is in the lower portion of the rock. At left is solid or, 'pinched-off' and gradually opens up as it goes to the right. Notice the quartz crystal points are growing from each side toward the middle. Second picture is of the other side of the rock and the vug does have a 'roundish' shape like a geode.

Oh yes, Iron Out will be perfect. Put it in a plastic bucket or container with a lid. Try not to inhale fumes. It works better in warmer temps so cover and bring inside somewhere if you can. 24-48 hours in IO and then 24 in rinse water.