RUSSULA. 



113 



Russula aurata. 



natural size. 



Genus X.— Russula (russulus, reddish). Pers. 

 Fr. Epicr. i. p. 349. 



Veil none. Hymenophore descending unchanged and forming 

 a vesicular trama. Gills rigid, fragile and not milky, acute at 

 the edge. Spores rounded, often 

 echinulate, white or yellowish. 

 Growing on the ground, fleshy, 

 putresce?it, with polished stem, and 

 pileus at the first or at length de- 

 pressed. 



The Russulae constitute a very 

 natural group, allied to the Lactarii, 

 but very easily distinguished from 

 them by their want of milk. Vari- 

 ous Russulae however exude watery 

 drops, especially in rainy weather. 

 The gills of most of them are equal 

 in length or furcate, but in the tribe 

 of the CompactcE they are quite un- 

 equal. The species are for the most 

 part striking in appearance : the 

 Fragiles, the most common tribe, are difficult to determine on 

 account of the variations of their colour. Fr. Hy?n. Eur. p. 439. 



The most protean species is R. i?itegra. Fries warns beginners 

 to beware of making out new species in the neighbourhood of 

 this, and of ascribing forms of it to truly distinct species which 

 are of comparatively rare occurrence. 



On account of the danger of mistaking noxious species for the 

 few which are edible, their use as food is not to be commended. 



I. Compacts (compingo, to put together : compact). Pileus fleshy 

 throughout, hence the margin is at first bent inwards and always without 

 striae, without a distinct viscous pellicle (in consequence of which the colour 

 is not variable, but only changes with age and the state of the atmosphere). 

 Flesh compact, firm. Stem solid, fleshy. Gills unequal. 



II. Furcatve (/urea, a fork. With forked gills). Pileus compact, firm, 

 covered with a thin, closely adnate pellicle, which at length disappears, 

 margin abruptly thin, at first inflexed, then spreading, acute, even. Stem at 

 first compact, at length spongy -soft within. Gills somezvhat forked, with a 

 few shorter ones intermixed, commonly attenuated at both ends, thin and 

 normally narrow. 



III. Rigid^e (rigidus, rigid). Pileus without a viscid pellicle, absolutely 

 dry, rigid, the cuticle commo?ily breaking up into flocci or granules. Flesh 

 thick, compact, firm, vanishing away short of the margin which is straight 

 (never involute), soon spreading, and always without strics. Stem solid, at 



VOL. H. H 



Russula. 



