These potassium ion layers produce the perfect cleavage. Polylithionite's rarity, associations with other rare minerals, attractive color and fluorescent color and crystal habit make it an ideal collection mineral. Color is colorless, white, bluish, greenish, yellow, brown, pink, silvery to pearly white. Luster is pearly to waxy. Transparency crystals are transparent to translucent.
Cleavage is perfect in one direction producing thin sheets or flakes.
Fracture is not readily observed due to cleavage but is uneven. Hardness is 2 - 3. Streak is white. Specimens are fluorecent lemon yellow under shortwave UV light. Associated Minerals are many and include catapleiite , ilmenite , behoite , titanite , aragonite , eudialyte , leucosphenite , fluorite , willemite , apophyllite , rhodochrosite , steacyite , leifite , sodalite , pyrochlore , calcite , sugilite , microcline , axinite , manganbabingtonite , galena , ancylite , natrolite , serandite , hilairite , sheldrickite and calcioancylite .