Raphides are needle-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate monohydrate or calcium carbonate as aragonite, found in more than 200 families of plants.
Both ends are needle-like, but raphides tend to be blunt at one end and sharp at the other.
Raphides in Epipremnum Devil's ivy (600x magnification)
Raphides in Hypoestes phyllostachya, the polka dot plant
Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula CaC2O4 or Ca(COO)2. It forms hydrates CaC2O4·nH2O, where n varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydrate CaC2O4·H2O occurs naturally as the mineral whewellite, forming envelope-shaped crystals, known in plants as raphides. The two rarer hydrates are dihydrate CaC2O4·2H2O, which occurs naturally as the mineral weddellite, and trihydrate CaC2O4·3H2O, which occurs naturally as the mineral caoxite, are also recognized. Some foods have high quantities of calcium oxalates and can produce sores and numbing on ingestion and may even be fatal. Cultural groups with diets that depend highly on fruits and vegetables high in calcium oxalate, such as those in Micronesia, reduce the level of it by boiling and cooking them. They are a constituent in 76% of human kidney stones. Calcium oxalate is also found in beerstone, a scale that forms on containers used in breweries.
Scanning electron micrograph of the surface of a kidney stone showing tetragonal crystals of Weddellite (calcium oxalate dihydrate) emerging from the amorphous central part of the stone (the horizontal length of the picture represents 0.5 mm of the figured original)
Urine microscopy showing calcium oxalate crystals in the urine. The octahedral crystal morphology is clearly visible.
Histopathology of calcium oxalate crystals in a benign breast cyst, H&E stain. In the breast, they can be seen on mammography and are usually benign, but can be associated with lobular carcinoma in situ.
Image: Spiculated kidney stone
