Jade

Jadeite and nephrite are the minerals most widely known as jade. One or both may make up the stone known as jade.
Jadeite - Most jade on the market is composed of nephrite; jadeite jade is quite rare and in its emerald-green, translucent form is referred to as Imperial Jade or "gem jade". Found in Myanmar and Guatemala.
Colors: white, reddish, yellow, diverse green hues, gray-blue, purple (typically light tints, frequently described as lavender), brown, black, and diverse mixtures of these colors.
Nephrite is actually not a mineral, but a variety of the mineral actinolite. Nephrite is mined in Canada, Australia, the United States, and Taiwan. There is Nephrite found in California which ranges in color from green to blue to black.
Colors: Nephrite is usually only green and creamy white, while jadeite can have the full range of jade's colors.
Idocrase: Vesuvianite is the accepted mineral designation but the name Idocrase is also applied rather widely. Californite is also called "Vesuvianite" and "Idocrase" and is commonly misrepresented as jade.
Colors: Stone material is typically some shade of green but may include white, yellow, reddish brown, lilac and even bluish hues.
Chrome Jade: Jade with brilliant green specks.
Nelson Bar Jade is a commercial name for Idocrase found in the area of Oroville, California now covered by water at the Oroville Dam. Color: White and various shades of green.
Wyoming jade - name often given to nephrite from Wyoming. Wyoming Blue Jade-Color: Dark blue, almost black to dark blue with various shades of green in flecks and plumes. Polishes to a glass finish and some have an orange peel finish.

There is a great article on jade at http://molly.kalafut.org/jade/collecting.html .

Folklore: For thousands of years, jade was a symbol of love and virtue as well as a status symbol.

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