Location: Maharashtra, India

This large cabinet specimen has small sprays of Scolecite with fans of peach Stilbite on clear cubic Apophyllite.

Size: 9.5 x 6.15 x 3 inches

Scolecite is a tectosilicate mineral belonging to the Zeolite group and Natrolite Subgroup.  Scolecite is a hydrated calcium silicate and usually occurs as acicular (needle-like) and fibrous aggregations. It is a secondary crystal that often forms in the cavities of basalt.

Stilbite is the name of a series minerals of the zeolite group. Before 1997, Stilbite was recognized as a mineral species, but a reclassification changed it to a series name that includes the Barrerite - Stilbite-Ca - Stilbite-Na - Stellerite series. Stilbite-Ca, by far the more common of the series. The Ca and Na species are visually indistinguishable, and the series name Stilbite is still used whenever testing has not been performed. The color is usually colorless or white, also yellow, brown, pink, salmon, orange, red, green, blue or black. The luster is generally vitreous, and on the perfect cleavage parallel to the plane of symmetry it is markedly pearly. The streak is white and crystals are transparent to translucent.

Stilbite is a common member of the zeolite group, and is found in most of the world's important zeolite deposits. Single crystals are tabular and flattened usually with pointed termination. Crystals will usually be in platy aggregates, or in distinct curved aggregates of fan-shaped or wheat sheaf bundles, and in unique "bow tie" formations.