Grey knightРядовка наземна

The grey knight (Tricholoma terreum) is a common autumn knight of pine forests with a characteristic mouse-gray downy cap. The Latin epithet terreum means "earthy, gray as the earth" — an apt name: the cap is 3-8 cm across, conical to flat-conical with a distinct central bump, gray to dark gray, mouse-colored, with fine felty-fibrous down that resembles a mouse's fur.

Conditionally edible, with a caveat. In the old Soviet and European tradition it was an edible mushroom of the 4th category after brief boiling. However, a 2014 study in mice found compounds in it that cause rhabdomyolysis (breakdown of muscle tissue) — an effect similar to the one proven in humans for Tricholoma equestre (yellow knight). No confirmed human poisonings from the grey knight have been described, but caution with heavy, prolonged consumption is still wise; single portions of young fruiting bodies after boiling — no recorded complications.

Current recommendation: pick it in moderate amounts, don't eat it several days in a row, especially if you have kidney or cardiovascular conditions. As a "filler" in a mix with saffron milk caps and slippery jacks — fine. Avoid dishes made solely of grey knights in large portions.

The main thing is to recognize it among the other gray knights, because the same group includes the severely poisonous Tricholoma pardinum (tiger tricholoma): large, with a distinctly scaly gray cap, fleshy, it causes severe gastroenteritis with dehydration. The fundamental difference: T. terreum is small (3-8 cm), with a downy, not scaly, cap.

In Ukraine, the grey knight is common in pine and spruce-pine forests: the Carpathians, Prykarpattia, Polissia, and parts of the forest-steppe. Season: August — November; it fruits in groups of 5-15 on the forest floor.