Russula sp.
Fnugi > Basidiomycota > Agaricomycetes > Order Russulales > Family Russulaceae.
The genus has 700 to 750 species worldwide.
The mushrooms grow from the ground not from wood.
They can be solitary, scattered or densely clustered.
When damaged they do not exude a milky latex.
The often short cylindrical stems are solid (when young) and have no volva or veils.
They are fleshy rather than fibrous making them brittle and easy to break.
Stems can be white, white tinged with pink or a reddish-brown.
The young fleshy caps are conical then flattened.
Older caps may be concave and unevenly shaped.
Typically brightly coloured they can be red yellow, orange or brown.
Colours can vary even within a species and they fade and/or change with age.
They have a ‘skin’ or cuticle that peels off to various degrees among the species.
Striations on the cap edge may be faint to prominent.
Gills are typically attached to the stem but some are free while others run down it slightly.
Spores are white, cream or dark yellow.
Identifying a mushroom as a Russula is usually easy but finding the species is often difficult.
It requires histology of tissues and spores, chemical tests, smell and taste etc.
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The species shown below has a bright red cap that has become concave.
There are edge striations.
The stem, white above and pink below, has no ring or volva.
The gills, of equal length are slightly attached to the stem.
Some are forked and there are cross connections in some areas.
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Russula persanguinea.
Common mushrooms in Australia with 2,433 reported sightings.
They have a bright red cap and a pure white gills and stem.
Russula rosea has a bright red caps with yellow spots and gills almost free of the stem.
Russula aff pseudointegra.
The deep red cap becomes a greyish-red and the stem is white with pink tinges.
Gills and spores are a deep cream to pale brownish.
They are adnexed (the end of the gills just touches the stem but is not fused to it).
Russula emetica.
This is the type species for the genus.
The bright red caps that become flattened have marginal striations.
The smooth thick stem is white.
The crowded white gills are free of the stem or attached to a varying degree.
They are occasionally forked near the margin and there may cross connections.
The spore print is white.
Mine has a faint pink stem and gills attached to the stem.
J.F.
