This study has presented synthesis, characterization, and formation mechanism of a kind of novel porous zircon with desert rose-shaped morphology, which was hydrothermally fabricated by a two-step quasi-in situ reaction in a system of silica hydrogel and well-dispersed ZrO2 precursor microspheres. The micro-mesoporous zircon product possesses a sole crystalline phase of hydroxyl-fluorinated ZrSiO4 without unreacted ZrO2 or SiO2 in the final resultant. It has a specific surface area exceeding 120 m(2)/g and can maintain more than 50% micro-mesoporic pores after calcination at 800 degrees C due to its magnificent thermal stability. A four-stage formation mechanism has been proposed to elucidate the process of quasi-in situ crystallization and growth for the rose-shaped zircon.