RUSSULA Fr. 



(From the Latin, russula, reddish.) 



Veil none; the trama composed of vesiculose tissue, tvithout a 

 milky juice; gills rigid, fragile, acute ou edge;Vstem central, con- 

 fluent with the fjileus; spores globose or subglobose, usually echinu- 

 late or verrucose, white cream-color, vellow or ochraceous. 



Fleshy, putrescent, rigid-brittle mushrooms, mostly terrestrial, a 

 few on much decayed wood, on sphagnum or ou other mosses. A 

 very distinct genus, most closely related to Lactarius, from which 

 it differs by its lack of a milky juice. Hygrophorus differs in the 

 thicker and more waxy nature of the gills although here there 

 are evident certain signs of relationship with species of Russula. 

 Almost all of the species are edible after careful cooking since even 

 the peppery forms then lose their sharp taste; in any case the mild 

 species are perfectly safe when fresh, young and clean. 



The PILEUS may be red, purple, violet, bluish, yellow, green or 

 white, except in the Compactae, a differentiated jjellicle is present 

 on tlie surface of the cap. This pellicle is often composed of more 

 or less gelatinous hyphae and becomes viscid in wet weather, or it 

 may remain dry and become pruinose or velvety. The pellicle is 

 somewhat separable along the margin of the pileus and in many 

 of the Fragiles can be peeled easily on the whole surface. The 

 margin of the pileus is often striate at least in age. In the sx>ecies 

 with a thin cap, the lines of attachment of the gills to the cap 

 show through as raised ridges which are often tuberculate because 

 of the presence of the interspacial veins beneath and these striae 

 may extend far toward the center of the pileus. In the species with 

 firm and thick caps, the striations are not as marked or are ob- 

 scurely developed on the margin only when the plant becomes old. 

 Still, this character is so variable that it must be used with caution 

 as a diagnostic character. The surface is usually glabrous or merely 

 pruinose to velvety; the latter appearance is due to cystidia-like 

 erect hyphae closely covering the pellicle. The GILLS of the differ- 



