vesuvianite

/veuh sooh"vee euh nuyt'/, n.

a mineral, chiefly a hydrous silicate of calcium and aluminum, commonly in tetragonal crystals and usually of a brown to green color; idocrase.

[1885-90; VESUVIAN + -ITE¹]

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▪ mineral

also called  idocrase 

 common silicate mineral that occurs in crystalline limestones near their contacts with igneous rocks, and in beds of marble and calcsilicate granulite that are associated with gneiss and mica schist. Fine glassy crystals coloured yellow, green, or brown have been found in the Ala Valley in the Piedmont, and on Mte. Somma, Italy; the Vilyuy River, Siberia; Christiansand, Nor.; Litchfield, Quebec; and Auburn, Maine, Amity, N.Y., and Franklin, N.J. For chemical formula and detailed physical properties, see silicate mineral (table).

      Transparent crystals of a good green or brown colour are sometimes cut as gemstones. Cut stones resemble diopside or epidote but can be distinguished optically. A compact green variety resembling jade, found at several localities in California, is known as californite. A sky-blue variety, cyprine, contains traces of copper.

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