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Botryoidal
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<h2 id="formation">Formation</h2> <p>Minerals take on a botryoidal habit when they form in an environment containing many <a href="/facts/Seed_crystal/WxJ17hXh">nuclei</a>, specks of sand, dust, or other particulate matter to serve as sources of <a href="/facts/Nucleation/efUVLsLR">crystal nucleation</a>. <a href="/facts/Acicular_(crystal_habit)/PGMnp4TX">Acicular</a> or fibrous crystals grow outward from these "seeds" at the same or very similar rate, resulting in radial <a href="/facts/Crystal_growth/QwhSDA5y">crystal growth</a>. As these spheres grow, they can run into or overlap with others that are nearby, fusing together to form a botryoidal cluster. Since botryoidal growths are formed from many smaller crystals, botryoidal habit is usually independent of the specific <a href="/facts/Crystal_structure/bJ4bCeHd">crystal structure</a> associated with any given mineral. This is how the habit can be observed in a variety of minerals that otherwise display distinct <a href="/facts/Euhedral_and_anhedral/mPvgfKGz">euhedral</a> forms. </p> <ul><li>Klein, Cornelis and Cornelius S. Hurlbut Jr.; 1985; <i>Manual of Mineralogy</i>; Wiley; 20th ed.; p 199; <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-471-80580-7</li> <li><a href="http://www.minerals.net/mineral_glossary/botryoidal.aspx">http://www.minerals.net/mineral_glossary/botryoidal.aspx</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/75161/botryoidal-texture">http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/75161/botryoidal-texture</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Adjective form: botruoeidēs"botryoidal". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20201108002816/https://www.lexico.com/definition/botryoidal" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20201108002816/https://www.lexico.com/definition/botryoidal</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>