CUMMINGTONITE
Cummingtonite in scripture granite and quartz matrix, from County Västmanland, Sweden
(Mg, Fe)7Si8O22(OH)2 . Hardness: 5-6. Named from Cummington, MA, where it was first found and identified.
I know very, very little about this (except that it one of the sign of a true rockhound, when you can mention this mineral in front of your inlaws, without smirking!) Please, please, please check out more on here. I don't believe that this strain of cummingtonite is "asbestos", even if it is, it's not going to do any harm just sitting on a shelf! Pretty anyway.
"Cummingtonite is an Amphibole Group mineral; and any mineral of the group is considered to be an "asbestos" if it is found in fibrous form, which will be "soft" and "silky" to the touch."
With thanks to Alan Plante from the Rock Net Forum. (Yes, of course, I had asked if it was "dangerous", I'd been smashing a great boulder of it to bits with a hammer!! This cummingtonite is not at all soft and I would doubt very much that it is therefore, fibrous.)
