Whats an opal pineapple?
This is a very rare natural opal formation that vaguely resembles the form and distinctively textured skin of a pineapple. At most, only a few hundred were ever found, and most of those were sacrificed for their gem material. Today, opal pineapples are better appreciated and quite highly valued as natural history specimens. All of the opal pineapples we know of have been found in White Cliffs, New South Wales, Australia. What is really strange about these things is that each one looks like a cluster of opal crystals and opal doesn’t form crystals! Opal is usually called an amorphous (formless) gem because it doesn’t form in any of classically recognized crystal systems based on geometric shapes (cubic, hexagonal, and so on). Actually, precious opal does not lack internal structure, but it is made up of tiny spheres and not tiny crystal shapes.
