Wavellite from Montgomery County, Arkansas, USA (rare!)

Wavellite was named in 1805 for William Wavell (1750-1829), a physician in Devonshire, England, who discovered the mineral. It is a secondary mineral found in low grade metamorphic rocks. It usually found as radiating "starburst" clusters of green fibrous crystals. Wavellite is a phosphate mineral with formula Al3(PO4)2(OH, F)3·5H2O. It normally occurs as translucent green radial or spherical clusters. It was first described in 1805 for an occurrence at High Down, Filleigh, Devon, England and named for William Wavell of England who brought the mineral to the attention of the Scientific community. It occurs in association with crandallite and variscite in fractures in aluminous metamorphic rock, in hydrothermal regions and in phosphate rock deposits. It is found in a wide variety of locations notably in the Mount Ida, Arkansas area in the Ouachita Mountains.It is sometimes used as a gemstone.