Some of my Mame

It 'nice to find such stones covered with clay, you never know what's underneath, always a wonderful surprise gives nature, is difficult to understand if it's only clay or if there is the stone, which now serves experience more than 20 years I have acquired, the material is Limestone Marl, similar to palombino, are stones that I am here in Tuscany Italy, the largest width is 8 cm.

Great stones!

They're all beautiful.

Surprising!

Uou, very beautifull! Congtas on these fine finds...

One question, (may be stupid, I'm not an expert on suiseki, but still love them): Why do stones appear more sharp edged when in your palm, when found I assume, and later more smooth and round edged?

Very beautifull indeed, I have to try and find similar stones myself, yet we don't have these black type of rocks where I live (as far as I know, anyway..)

you, Klosi, good question to understand, the material is Palombino, it is often covered with clay as it is under the ground, I find them in landslides, in cultivated fields. see the video on youtube  

So, I suppose that these two that I got a couple of years ago from an enthusiast who said they came from Italy are "Palombino"?...

you AlphainK is palombino (geologically Limestone Marl), surely the province of Liguria,

Ah, ok, I see. So you clean off the remaining mud and clay.
Do you cut the bottom off so that it is flat?

Klosi, the palombino stones are almost all flat of her was the pressure of millions of years from other layers of sediment, we in Italy we are still quite traditional to suiseki, not mowing.

this is how they are under

maremmano wrote:you AlphainK is palombino (geologically Limestone Marl), surely the province of Liguria,

Thanks a lot, grazie mille, merci beaucoup.

I thought they were some kind of slate or shale because of the colour, but they are not showing layers like the the shale or slate I had seen.

By the way, "palombino" is close to the word "palombe", which is used in the south of France, in the Pyreneans where some people still speak various forms of "occitan", a language even closer to Italian than French.
"Palombes" are actually what in the north we call "Pigeaon ramier" (Columba palumbus - Common Wood Pigeon): could it be because its colours are a bit like those of a wood pigeon?...

Maremmano thanks for explanations. They are just flat on the bottom, amazing. These finds are stunning.