Ophicalcite

Ophicalcite is a serpentinite breccia popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. It is a dark, dull green, white-mottled (or white-veined) serpentine, mixed with calcite, dolomite, or magnesite.

Ophicalcite sometimes classed, erroneously, as a variety of marble. It also called and marketed as “ophite”. Non-brecciated varieties of a very similar serpentinite sometimes also called “verd antique”. The term verd antique documented in English texts as early as 1745.