Well Morta is not petrified exactly, but it's in the process of petrification just needs a few more thousand years. The wood I use is typically 5,000 or 7,000 years old, from Eastern Europe. The thing that suits it for pipe making, over regular Oak, is that it's soaked up all the silica and minerals from the bog it's laid in all this time. This gives it a different nature than plain Oak and makes it fire resistant similar to Briar.
As far as making pipes with it goes, I like the beauty of it, and the history of it (this tree was growing at the time that Stonehenge was being built!). I admire its beauty, and I can't help but let my mind wander over what this tree witnessed when it was alive.
The smoking qualities of Morta are not much different than Briar. You want to treat it with a bit of care, don't abuse it with bowl after bowl all day long and no rest. You don't want to smoke it hard until its too hot to touch. Of course, you don't want to treat briar that way either, but Morta won't take that kind of abuse as well as a briar may.
