Detailed information
Species
Actinolite, Epiodote, variety Byssolite
Dimensions
70 x 85 x 48
mm
Locality
Knappenwand Untersulzbach Valley, Hohe Tauern Salzburg, Austria
Condition
No recorded repairs
Just mention Knappenwand to any serious mineral collector and they will think Epidote. This is one of the world's best localities for wonderful Epidote specimens and this classy example is a total beauty. Dark bottle-green Epidote crystals to at least 5 cm long form an interlaced cross-work of parallel blades, all perfectly terminated and with a bright glassy lustre. Encrusting these in many areas are micro crystals of opaque, pistachio green Epidote. Overgrowing the Epidote crystals are dense mats of peppermint green to pale sea-blue-green Byssolite, a hair-like acicular variety of Actinolite. The deep-lime to bottle-green Epidote crystals grade from transparent to opaque. This is a wonderful, museum quality specimen from the Alpine epidote-amphibolite clefts in the Knappenwand of the Untersulzbach Valley, Salzburg, Austria.
