Malachite Malachite Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula CuCO(OH). This opaque, green banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures and spaces, deep underground, where the water table and hydrothermal fluids provide the means for chemical precipitation. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms. Pseudomorphs after more tabular or blocky azurite crystals also occur. The stone's name derives (via , , and Middle English "melochites") from Greek Μολοχίτης λίθος "molochitis lithos", "mallow-green stone", from μολόχη "molōchē", variant of μαλάχη "malāchē", "mallow".
Malachite sunbird sunbird species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed most of the time. As a fairly large sunbird, the malachite sunbird is no exception. They have long thin down-curved bills and brush-tipped tubular tongues, both adaptations to nectar feeding. Some plant species from which malachite sunbirds feed include many "Aloe" species, such as "Aloe broomii", "Aloe ferox" and "Aloe arborescens", and "Protea" species, such as "Protea roupelliae" as well as various other bird-pollinated plants such as "Leonotis" and "Strelitzia". It has been suggested that their behaviour of guarding flowering plants may have led to