Bloodstone Identification Guide
Identify bloodstone (heliotrope), opaque green chalcedony with red spots, using its color pattern, hardness, fracture, and how it differs from jasper and dyed stones.
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What Bloodstone Looks Like
Bloodstone, also called heliotrope, is an opaque dark-green variety of chalcedony (sometimes grouped with green jasper) speckled with red to brownish-red spots of iron oxide that look like droplets of blood. The green comes from included chlorite/amphibole, the red from hematite.
- Color: dark green to bluish-green base with red/orange-red spots or streaks
- Luster: waxy to dull on natural surfaces; takes a glassy polish
- Transparency: opaque
- Habit: massive; no crystals or banding
Step-by-Step Field-ID Checklist
- Look for the color pattern. A dark green ground with scattered red spots is the signature of bloodstone.
- Hardness test. It scratches glass and steel (Mohs 6.5–7).
- Streak test. White streak (red areas may smear faintly reddish from hematite).
- Check fracture. Conchoidal, glassy break confirms chalcedony.
- Confirm opacity. Bloodstone is opaque; if a thin edge transmits light, reconsider.
Key Diagnostic Tests
- Mohs hardness: 6.5–7; scratches glass.
- Streak: white.
- Cleavage/fracture: no cleavage; conchoidal fracture.
- Specific gravity: ~2.58–2.64.
- No acid reaction; not magnetic.
- Spot test under magnification: real red spots are part of the stone (iron oxide inclusions), not surface dye.
Common Look-Alikes and How to Tell Them Apart
- Green jasper (plain): same family but lacks the red spots; bloodstone is specifically the spotted variety. (Some call bloodstone a type of green jasper.)
- Dyed/treated imitations: beware overly bright green or red that pools in cracks; natural bloodstone has muted, earthy green with irregular red patches.
- Plasma: a deeper, more uniform green chalcedony without (or with few) red spots.
- Nephrite/jade: green and tough, but jade has a more fibrous/greasy luster, is slightly softer (6–6.5 nephrite) yet extremely tough, and lacks the classic red blood-spotting; jade also lacks chalcedony's conchoidal glassiness.
- Serpentine: softer (2.5–5), greasy luster, easily scratched — fails the hardness test.
- Verdite/green dyed howlite: softer and won't scratch glass.
The defining diagnostic is the green-with-red-spots pattern plus hardness 7 and opacity. Hardness alone rules out serpentine and dyed howlite; the spotting separates it from plain green jasper and plasma.
Where Bloodstone Is Found
Classic bloodstone comes from India (the major commercial source), with additional material from Australia, Brazil, China, Madagascar, and the USA. It forms where silica-rich fluids fill or replace iron- and chlorite-bearing volcanic rocks, and is found as pebbles and nodules in gravels.
Quick Confirmation
An opaque dark-green stone scattered with red spots that scratches glass, breaks conchoidally, and gives a white streak is bloodstone (heliotrope) — not serpentine, jade, or a dyed imitation.
Frequently asked questions
How can you tell if bloodstone is real?
Real bloodstone is opaque dark-green chalcedony with red iron-oxide spots, scratches glass (hardness 6.5–7), has a white streak, and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The red spots should be part of the stone, not surface dye pooling in cracks, and it should be hard enough to resist a steel knife.
What does bloodstone look like?
It is a dark green to bluish-green opaque stone flecked with red or orange-red spots that resemble drops of blood. The green base comes from chlorite or amphibole inclusions and the red spots from hematite.
Is bloodstone a jasper or a chalcedony?
Both terms are used. Bloodstone is a variety of chalcedony, and because it is opaque it is often classified as a type of green jasper. The defining feature is the red spotting on a green ground.
Bloodstone vs jade — how do I tell them apart?
Jade (nephrite or jadeite) has a greasy, fibrous luster and is exceptionally tough but lacks the red blood-spots. Bloodstone is chalcedony with a glassy conchoidal fracture and characteristic red spots on a dark green base.
Bloodstone identified by the community
Recent Bloodstone specimens identified with Rock Identifier.
