Spessartine (or spessartite) is named after Spessart in Bavaria, Germany, the type locality of the mineral. Spessartine of an orange-yellow has been called Mandarin garnet and is found in Madagascar. Violet-red spessartine are found in rhyolites in Colorado and Main.
Spessartite, as other garnets, has a hardnes of 6.5-7 on the Mohs hardness scale.