Lepidolite or "Flower Sugilite"

Semi-precious lepidolite is frequently known as flower sugilite. In reality, it isn't sugilite at all. Sugilite is a completely different stone, although it's also purple in its most desirable quality. Lepidolite's color is violet to pale pink or white and rarely gray or yellow. Its luster is vitreous to pearly and crystals are transparent to translucent. It is 2.5 on the Mohs hardness scale. Associated minerals are quartz, feldspars, and tourmaline.

Lepidolite is an uncommon mica and has only become available on the mineral market in sufficient quantities in the past decade. Lepidolite forms in granitic masses containing lithium. The typical violet to pink color of lepidolite is characteristic and is the only field test available to identify lepidolite from other micas.

Notable occurrences include Brazil, the Ural Mountains in Russia, several African localities and California in the U.S. Lepidolite belongs to the silicates class in the mica group. Its uses include ornamental stone, ore of lithium, and as a heat insulator in industry. A rock made of granular pink lepidolite and red to pink tourmaline is used as an ornamental stone for carving. Single large plates or "books" of lepidolite can have an appealing violet color and make attractive mineral specimens.