Local Name
Silio (Melnis sok’o) (1), Silis sok’o, Mertskhala-sok’o (imer., gur.) (2), Silisok’o (rach.) (3), Kvishants’q’uri (meg.) (4).
Description
Cap: The cap is 6–10 cm, oval when young expanding to conical-convex, often with a curled up or tattered margin when mature, lead gray, grayish, or gray-brown, fairly smooth, but usually finely scaly to slightly scruffy over the center, faintly grooved. Gills are attached to the stem or free from it, whitish, becoming brownish-blackish, close or crowded. Stem: The stem is 8–18 cm long, 1–2 cm thick, equal, smooth or finely hairy, white or whitish, fibrous, hollow. Flesh: The flesh is whitish to pale gray, thin, soft, odor not distinctive. Spores: The spores are 6–10 X 4–6 µm, elliptical, smooth, blackish.
Habitat: On soils, on decaying wood, on meadows and pasturelands, and on nearby areas. Season: All year.
Distribution: All regions of Georgia (5).
Uses
Edibility: Edible when young and fresh (1).
Racha — “Silio is an edible mushroom and usually grows on the sandy places” (3). Kakheti — “Silis sok’o is a very tasty mushroom which likes the sandy places” (6).
References
- Nakhutsrishvili, I.G. (2007) Fungi of Georgia. Tbilisi: Buneba Printi.
- Makashvili, A. (1991) Botanical Dictionary. Tbilisi: Metsniereba.
- Kobakhidze, A. (1987) Dictionary of the Rachan Dialect. Tbilisi: Metsniereba.
- Kobalia, A. (2010) Megrelian Dictionary. Tbilisi: Artanuji Publishing.
- Nakhutsrishvili, I.G., et al. (1986) Flora of Spore-producing Plants of Georgia (Summary). Tbilisi: Metsniereba (Russian).
- Brekashvili, L. (2015) Vlg. Zemo Bodbe, Sighnaghi.