Russula vinacea

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Russula brevipes Peck

       SYNONYM: None

       COMMON NAME: Short-Stalked Brittlegill

       FAMILY: Russulaceae

      CAP: Up to 8 in. wide; white to cream, often covered with dirt; convex with a central depression at first becoming nearly flat to funnel shaped in age; surface dry, smooth to fibrillose, becoming cracked at times; margin incurved at first and often remaining so into maturity

      FLESH: White, at times staining brownish on exposure; firm, brittle; odor not distinctive, or somewhat unpleasant; taste mild to acrid; taste of variety acrior is reportedly very acrid

      GILLS: White to creamy or pale yellow, staining reddish brown; subdecurrent; close to crowded; narrow; forking at times; edges even; no partial veil

      STEM: Up to 2-1/2 in. long; white to cream, staining brownish; nearly equal; solid, becoming hollow; surface dry, bald

      SPORE PRINT: White to cream

      ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; solitary to gregarious in litter, often partially buried, under pines; summer and fall; common

      EDIBILITY: Edible, but generally considered mediocre; the author has not tried it

      COMMENTS: This species frequently appears mostly submerged in pine duff. It often occurs with Lactifluus deceptivus (p. 41), which looks very similar, but its gills exude latex when damaged. Russula brevipes var. acrior has a blue band at the stem apex and at times shows blue tints on the gills and cap. Compare with other, similar-sized white mushrooms, such as Hygrophorus sordidus (p. 69) and Tricholoma subresplendens (p. 91). These usually occur with oaks and are not associated with pines. There are also similar, less common, whitish species (not included here) in the genera Leucopaxillus and Clitocybe.

       Russula brevipes

      MILK MUSHROOMS

      Lactarius and Lactifluus

      THESE TWO GENERA of medium to large mushrooms exude latex when the gills or flesh are cut or damaged. Sometimes the latex is scant or watery, and close observation is needed to see it. They are treated in older field guides as all being in the genus Lactarius. Macroscopically they are very much alike. General characteristics include white, cream, buff, or yellowish spore deposits; fleshy but rather brittle caps and stems; no partial veil or volva; and a mycorrhizal association with trees. They are rather squat mushrooms, with the cap often being wider than the stem’s length. Their sister genus is Russula, whose species do not exude latex when cut or damaged, and most species are very brittle. Keys are organized here into three groups: species with acrid white latex; species with mild white latex; and species with colored latex. Several of the species in the genus Lactifluus with mild-tasting latex are considered to be good edibles.

       Lactarius peckii

       Lactifluus lignyotus

       Lactarius aspideoides

       Lactifluus volemus v. flavus

      Key to the Milk Mushrooms, Lactarius and Lactifluus

      Latex acrid or peppery, whitish

       Latex rapidly becoming yellow on exposure

      1. Under oaks, without prominent reddish-brown stains: Lactarius chrysorrheus (p. 38)

      2. Under conifers, with reddish-brown stains: Lactarius vinaceorufescens (p. 39)

       Latex not rapidly changing color on exposure

      1. Cap whitish; gills very crowded: Lactarius piperatus (p. 40)

      2. Cap whitish; gills close to subdistant; covered at first with a pseudo partial veil that does not attach to the stem; mature cap margin slightly stretchy from the remains of the pseudo veil: Lactarius deceptivus (p. 41)

      3. Cap whitish; gills subdistant or occasionally close; no pseudo veil; cap margin not stretchy: Lactarius subvellereus var. subdistans (p. 42)

      4. Cap bay red to brownish red; dry; not usually zoned; under conifers: Lactarius rufus (p. 44)

      5. Cap: orangish brown to brick red; dry; zoned under oaks: Lactarius peckii (p. 43)

      6. Cap orange to yellowish;

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