Garden Quartz

Garden Quartz is a popular trade name for clear to translucent Quartz containing naturally enclosed mineral inclusions that create miniature landscape-like patterns inside the crystal. These internal scenes may resemble moss, forests, clouds, earth, underwater gardens or distant landscapes, which is where the name Garden Quartz comes from. It is not a separate mineral species. The host mineral is Quartz. The inclusions can vary considerably from specimen to specimen and may include chlorite, hematite, iron oxides, clay minerals and other mineral material trapped during crystal growth. As Quartz continues to grow, earlier minerals, coatings or growth surfaces can become enclosed inside the crystal. This can produce layered scenes, clouds, plumes, phantoms and three-dimensional internal structures. The name Lodolite is also widely used for this material. Mindat treats Lodolite as an unofficial trade name for included Quartz, particularly material from Minas Gerais, Brazil. Because the inclusions differ between specimens, Garden Quartz should not be assumed to contain one specific inclusion mineral without examination or laboratory testing. Its highly individual internal patterns make Garden Quartz especially popular as polished points, spheres, cabochons, freeforms and collector specimens.