Luster is vitreous to dull. Crystals are translucent to less commonly transparent. Crystal Habits include prisms truncated with a pinacoid termination. The prisms are predominantly four sided but may display small secondary faces giving a slight octagonal cross-section. Phantoms are seen in some transparent crystals.
Fracture is conchoidal.
Hardness is 4.5 - 5. Streak is white. Prism faces are striated lengthwise and dark blue crystals show strong pleochroism. Associated Minerals include rasvumite , tugtupite , aegirine , natrophosphate , sidorenkite , and other rare minerals. Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, cleavage, color, pleochroism and locality.