The faces that are inverted are completely flipped both left to right and up to down. Axinite is actually a series name for a group of isostructural minerals. All have the same structure but are different in terms of chemistry. They are named for their respective enrichment in either iron, magnesium and manganese, except for the iron manganese intermediate tinzenite. They differ slightly in color and specific gravity and most collectors refer to any of them as simply axinite, that is why they are treated as a single mineral here.
Color is commonly a lilac brown but also yellow, yellow-orange, gray, pale blue and even black.
Luster is vitreous. Transparency crystals are transparent to translucent. Also as granular and as parallel bladed aggregates. Cleavage is good in one direction. Fracture is conchoidal.