The New International Encyclopædia/Spodumene

SPODUMENE (from Gk. σποδούμενος, spodoumenos, pres. part. mid. of σποδοῦν, spodoun, to burn to ashes, from σποδóς, spodos, ashes). A mineral lithium and aluminum silicate crystallized in the monoclinic system. It has a vitreous lustre and is light green, gray, yellow, or purple in color. It occurs commonly in the coarse granitic veins, and is found in Sweden, the Tyrol, Scotland, Brazil, and in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, North Carolina, and South Dakota. The yellow green to emerald green crystalline variety found in Alexander County, N. C., is highly valued as a gem, and is known as hiddenite, from its discoverer, W. E. Hidden, of New York.