Beryl - Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈

Habit: Colorless, white, pale blue to sky blue, bluish green through green to greenish yellow or yellow, rose to peach, or deep pink to raspberry red; may be zoned. Crystals prismatic to tabular and may be complexly terminated by pyramids, as well as radial, trapiche or columnar; also granular to compact. Vitreous, resinous luster; transparent to translucent. White streak.

Environment: Commonly occurs in pegmatites. Red beryl is found in topaz rhyolites.

Etymology: Possibly from the Greek beryllos, which in antiquity referred to a number of blue-green stones. Beryl is the mineral name, but its associated gem names are based on color. They include, among others, emerald (green), goshenite (clear or white), aquamarine (blue), heliodor (yellow) and morganite (pink)