Smithsonite - ZnCO₃

Habit: White, pale to dark gray, pale brown or brown; more rarely pale shades of red, pink, orange, yellow, green, apple green, emerald green, blue or bluish gray. Uncommon as crystals, rhombohedral and scalenohedral; typically botryoidal, reniform, spherulitic, stalactitic, earthy, friable, granular to porous or compact massive. Vitreous luster or may be pearly; transparent to translucent. White streak.

Environment: A secondary mineral formed in oxidized zones of zinc-bearing deposits and replacing adjacent carbonate rocks, where it may constitute an ore.

Etymology: Named in honor of James Lewis Smithson (1754-1829), the British chemist and mineralogist whose bequest founded the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.