He called the new mineral silico-boro-calcite; it was given the name howlite by the American geologist James Dwight Dana shortly thereafter.

Crystals were first reported from Tick Canyon in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of California,[8] and later at Iona, Nova Scotia.

[2] The nodules are white with fine grey or black veins in an erratic, often web-like pattern, opaque with a sub-vitreous luster.

Because of its porous texture, howlite can be easily dyed to imitate other minerals, especially turquoise because of the superficial similarity of the veining patterns.

Most of the white varieties of turquoise are chalk-like with a Mohs hardness of 1, and are not as hard or durable as howlite, and subsequently require stabilization in order to be used in jewelry, which has resulted in howlite being more popular for use in jewelry than the artificially stabilized white forms of the mineral turquoise.