THE RUSSULES. I 87 



equally good, two of which may be added, and if 

 confounded with each other no harm will be done. 

 The common russule {Riissula integra) is found in 

 woods throughout summer and autumn. It is mild 

 to the taste, but one of the most variable in colour. 

 The cap is commonly ruddy, sometimes shaded with 

 blue or brown or olive. The cap is fleshy and 

 convex, then becoming flattened and depressed, 

 rather fragile when mature, and covered with a viscid 

 cuticle, which soon loses colour. The margin is 

 indented all round with parallel depressed lines or 

 shallow furrows, with small tubercles in the space 

 betw^een them, but chiefly when in the mature condi- 

 tion. The cap is three or four inches broad, and 

 the flesh white. The stem is commonly stout, short 

 at first, then club shaped, or swollen in the middle, 

 white and spongy. The gills are nearly free from 

 the stem, very broad, not crowded, connected by 

 veins at the base, at first whitish, then yellowish, 

 powdered with the ochraceous spores. 



The other species {Russitla ahitaced) is chiefly 

 found in beech woods, and is about the same size 

 as the foregoing ; the cap is red or dark purple, 

 becoming pale, especially in the centre, and is also 

 covered with a viscid cuticle. The stem is stout and 

 solid, about two inches long, and equal throughout, 

 even and white, often variegated with red. The gills 

 are at first free from the stem, thick, and very broad, 

 connected by veins at the base, all of them being 



