page_title: Acicular (crystal habit)
hierarchical_section_title: Acicular (crystal habit)
caption_attribution_description: English: Natrolite Locality&#160;: Nasik District, Maharashtra, India Size&#160;: (11x9x7cm) Français&#160;: Natrolite Localité: Nasik District, Maharashtra, Inde Taille&#160;:(11x9x7cm)
context_page_description: Acicular, in mineralogy, refers to a crystal habit composed of slender, needle-like crystals. Crystals with this habit tend to be fragile. Complete, undamaged acicular specimens are uncommon.
  The term "acicular" derives from the Late Latin "acicula" meaning "little needle". Strictly speaking, the word refers to a growth habit that is slender and tapering to a point. Prismatic crystals are not acicular; however, colloquial usage has altered the commonly understood meaning of the word. When writing for mineralogical publications, authors should restrict their usage of "acicular" to crystals with the tapering growth habit.
  To add to the confusion, some minerals are described with various morphological terms. For example, natrolite is often described as slender prismatic and millerite is often described as filiform or capillary.
context_section_description: Acicular, in mineralogy, refers to a crystal habit composed of slender, needle-like crystals. Crystals with this habit tend to be fragile. Complete, undamaged acicular specimens are uncommon. 
  The term "acicular" derives from the Late Latin "acicula" meaning "little needle". Strictly speaking, the word refers to a growth habit that is slender and tapering to a point.  Prismatic crystals are not acicular; however, colloquial usage has altered the commonly understood meaning of the word. When writing for mineralogical publications, authors should restrict their usage of "acicular" to crystals with the tapering growth habit.
  To add to the confusion, some minerals are described with various morphological terms.  For example, natrolite is often described as slender prismatic and millerite is often described as filiform or capillary.
caption: Natrolite showing acicular crystal habit
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "SONY DSC", "Image Make": "SONY", "Image Model": "DSLR-A350", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2010:01:23 15:38:37", "Image ExifOffset": "224", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "778", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5005", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "20", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:01:23 15:14:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:01:23 15:14:33", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "915241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "540241/62500", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "487/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Day white fluorescent (N 4600 - 5400K)", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "50", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3391", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2644", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "75", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}