Spessartine in rhyolites in Colorado and Maine. In Madagascar, spessartines are exploited either in their bedrock or in alluvium. The orange garnets result from sodium-rich pegmatites. Spessartines are found in bedrock in the highlands in the Sahatany valley. Those in alluvium are generally found in southern Madagascar or in the Maevatanana region. Spessartine forms a solid solution series with the garnet species almandine. Well-formed crystals from this series, varying in color from very dark-red to bright yellow-orange, were found in Latinka, Rhodope Mountains, Kardzhali Province, Bulgaria. Spessartine, like the other garnets, always occurs as a blend with other species. Gems with
Moonstone (gemstone) the Florida State Gemstone; it was designated as such in 1970 to commemorate the Moon landings, which took off from Kennedy Space Center. Despite it being the Florida State Gemstone, it does not naturally occur in the state. Moonstone (gemstone) Moonstone is a sodium potassium aluminium silicate ((Na,K)AlSiO) of the feldspar group that displays a pearly and opalescent schiller. An alternative name is "hecatolite". Its name is derived from a visual effect, sheen or schiller (play of color), caused by light diffraction within a micro-structure consisting of regular exsolution layers (lamellae) of different alkali feldspars (orthoclase and sodium-rich plagioclase). Moonstone