stalagmite

noun

Etymology: From New Latin stalagmitēs, from Ancient Greek στάλαγμα (stálagma, “drop”) or σταλαγμός (stalagmós, “dripping”).

1. A secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or other mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that lies on the ground of a cave.

   “In one place, near at hand, a stalagmite had been slowly growing up from the ground for ages, builded by the water-drip from a stalactite overhead.”

   “Molten roofing north, lead dripping down south, stand like those immobilized columns of arctic water west, stalagmites, monked and housed or stamped and dudleyed east, in school texts.”