Barite, BaSO4 (Barium Sulfate), is easily identified by its heavy weight. Most similar minerals are much lighter. It tends to form well defined flattened crystals. Occasionally it forms large rounded mounds from precipitation of hot, barium-rich springs.

Description: A very rare formation of Barite closely resembling the petals of a flower. These barite roses, as the specimens are called, are unusual and no one knows how they form. Each of the petals is an individual crystal and these vary in colour along their length from silvery grey at the centre to white at the edges. These specimens wash out of the sea and can be found on the shore after heavy storms.

Location: Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England.