Nature Science

GORGEOUS GREEN CRYSTALS & CREATURES

Today, we are taking a look at some Beautiful Green animals and minerals. Some are familiar, but some have fascinating info you might not know, while others are more exotic.

GIANT GREEN ANEMONE

The Giant Green Anemone (above) is a marvelous creature. Its bright green tentacles paralyze and help push prey into its mouth. The green color you see here is only found on the inside of the anemone. The outside is a darker brown, which can be seen when the anemones are closed at greater depths.

GREEN TREE PYTHON

The green tree python (Chondropython viridis) is one of the most beautiful snake species on this planet. Their vibrant green scales with white dots create disruptive coloration, helping them to remain camouflaged in the rainforests of Indonesia, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.

The green tree python has a uniquely strong prehensile tail, enabling it to eat while hanging from branches. These pythons are considered endangered due to heavy logging and destruction of their natural habitats.

3. VIETNAMESE MOSSY FROG

The Vietnamese Mossy Frog (Theloderma corticale) is found in Northern Vietnam and China. This semi-aquatic, semi-arboreal species has green and brown mottled skin to blend in with moss, marshes, and trees. A combination of chromatophores and melanophores, green and brown pigment cells, create the Vietnamese Mossy Frog’s distinctive coloration.

ORIENTAL SWEETLIPS FISH

The Indian Ocean Oriental Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus vittatus) is native to the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. This species can be found on both coral and rock reefs. The gorgeous green stripes and dots help the Oriental Sweetlips fish remain camouflaged in the reefs, as well as attract mates.

TAILED JAY BUTTERFLY

The Tailed Jay Butterfly is a knock-out beauty, found collecting nectar from colorful flowers throughout India and Sri Lanka.

The beautiful green that dominates their wingspan is characteristic of both sexes, though the females’ wings also feature a streak of grey.

EMERALD

Emeralds are the the first stones most of us think of when we think: Beautiful Green. But they are not so common. In fact, they are almost 10 times more rare than diamonds.

The ancients considered the emerald as a symbol of love, rebirth, and eternal youth. This is likely tied to the fact that green reminds us of spring. It has been treasured for at least the past 4,000 springtimes by a number of cultures all around the world.

The green color of these gems comes from of small amounts of chromium and vanadium.

Most emeralds originally came from Egypt and India. Now Columbia is the most prolific source.

JADE

Jade has been a source of fascination, adoration, and status for generations across the planet. Although it is most famously associated with China’s emperors and scholars, the Maori of New Zealand and natives of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica also highly valued this stone.

Jade can be either of two types of rock - nephrite or jadeite. The distinction was not made until the development of mineralogy in the 19th Century. Nephrite gets its green from iron, while jadeite gets its green from chromium. Nephrite is made of densly packed mineral fibers, while jadeite is made of packed crystals. Jadeite is more valuable, because it is harder and more rare.

The name Jade comes from the Spanish phrase "Piedra de Ijada", which means "Stone of the Hip," referencing belief in the stone’s ability to provide metaphysical protection against kidney disease by the ancient societies.

PERIDOT

Although the mineral olivine is plentiful below the Earth’s crust, gem-quality variants - dubbed “Peridot” - are rare. Even more rare, are the peridots that come from meteors.

Peridots are one of the few gemstones that come in only one color, although the green varies from paler yellow-green through dark olive, depending on the nickel content.

Most peridot comes from St. John’s Island in the Red Sea.

TSAVORITE

Tsavorite is a relatively new addition to the gem family. Discovered in 1967 in Tanzania by a British gem prospector, it is also known as Green Garnet. Mining began in the Tsavo National Park in the neighboring country of Kenya in 1971. It was dubbed tsavorite by the president of Tiffany and Co., when the company began to market it.

Today recognized around the world as a beautiful example of garnet minerals in gemstones. It is rare. Similar to jade and emerald, Tsavorite’s virescent depth is the result of trace amounts of chromium and vanadium. Most tsavorite comes from Tanzania and Madagascar.

CHRYSOPRASE

With a mythology that dates back to antiquity, chrysoprase has always been prized for its irridescent apple-green sheen. According to various folklore, chrysoprase can enhance fertility and alleviate depression. It was said to have given Alexander the Great the power to win his many victories.

Its beauty and its purported powers made chrysoprase a favorite of rulers such as Frederick the Great and Queen Anne. Faberge also loved using the stone.

Today, chrysoproase is mostly mined from deposits in Australia.

MALACHITE

The beautiful green bands that characterize malachite have been featured in ornamentation for millenia. While it is a fairly common mineral, its gorgeous patterns and color combinations make each piece look unique and every peice gorgeous.

There’s a glorious room in the Hermitage, lined completely in in malachite, which completely dazzled us.

While malachite is primarily copper carbonate hydroxide, it often contains special combinations of other minerals, including dark blue azurite, sparkling black mottramite, baby bluechrysocolla, or rusty red limonite.

Malachite has been mined in Israel’s Timna Valley for over 5,000 years.