Jaspers

So many different kinds of Jasper! A huge variety of earthy, opaque stones fall into the category of "Jasper." The name means literally "spotted stone" - but that does not begin to convey the enormous variety of colours and patterns. Some Jaspers exhibit banding or flow patterns from the sediment from which they were formed - others have "dendritic" (multi-branched crystals) mineral growths that form star-like or vegetation-like patterns. Some have been fractured and rehealed in the process of being made by the earth, forming even more interesting patterns. Jasper is a complex and varied stone! Jasper is generally opaque.