"Imerinite" is a name given by Lacroix (ca. 1913) to an amphibole supergroup member, ranging from blackish-blue to lavender-blue, which occurred as acicular crystals in a metamorphic limestone near Ambatoarina (Madagascar). Lacroix (following the amphibole nomenclature of the time) determined it to have an intermediate composition between richterite and glaucophane. He named it "imerinite" after the ancient Merina Kingdom on the high plateaus of Madagascar, Imerina.
The name was discredited in 1978, being regarded as a synonym of magnesio-arfvedsonite. Magnesio-arfvedsonite was later redefined/renamed by the IMA in 2014.
A specimen labeled "Imerinite, Imerina, Madagascar" consisting of deep blue to nearly black bladed single crystals embedded in dolomite, was analyzed by RRUFF and identified as ferri-winchite (RRUFF ID: R060038).
Adding further provenance and historical interest to this specimen, it is accompanied by two old labels: one from the renowned French natural history shop Deyrolle, and a handwritten one from the collection of Jean Chervet (1904–1962). Chervet served as head of the mineralogy department at the French Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. He played a pivotal role in the survey and prospecting of uranium deposits in France and African territories such as Gabon and Madagascar. The mineral chervetite, discovered at the Mounana mine in Gabon and formally described in 1963, was named in his honor.

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Old specimen from the Jean Chadel collection, labeled as coming from Fort Dauphin, a locality situated in southeastern Madagascar, often found on many old labels even though the original locality may have been different. It consists of several crystals embedded in a matrix with quartz and mica.

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