GILL FUNGI 



35 



or hluish-gray, radiating;; spores globose, 4-5/a. 'J"he name refers to the position 

 of the cap. 



Frecjucnt on decaying logs or l)ranches. often buried in tlie soil. 



RUSSULA 



Closely related to 1, a (- t a r i u s. from which it differs in the absence of milky 

 sap. It is characterized 1>\- the \'erv brittle cap and stem, by the swollen, cell-like 

 threads t)f the middle of the gills, the trama, and by globose spiny spores. The 

 beginner is perhaps most likely to confuse R u s s u 1 a wdth T r i c h o 1 o m a. but 

 the features indicated are decisive. Many species of this genus have long been 

 regarded as harmful, if not downriglit poisonous, but Mcllvaine insists that not a 

 single species is known to be poisonous, and that all those which are not too highly 

 fknored are desirable. The name refers to the red color of many species. 



Key to the Species 



1. Cap typicallv retl or yellow 



a. Cap red, rarely yellowish or white 



(1) Cills wdiite 



(2) Gills yellowish or yellow 



(a) Cap rose-red, sticky, striate; taste mild 



(b) Cap vermilion, dry, not striate; taste very biting 



b. Cap yellow, rarely red 



(1) Gills wdiitish; smell heavy and unpleasant; taste 



biting 



(2) Gills yellow, at least the edge; smell and taste 



pleasant 



(a) Gills whitish, bright yellow at the edge 



(b) Gills entirely yellow 



2. Caj) not red or yellow ; white, brown, green or blackish 



a. Cap white or whitish to brown or black 



( 1 ) Cap soot-colored to black ; flesh reddening w hen 



touched 



(2) Cap white to brown, rarely black: ilesh not red- 



dening 



(a) Taste mild 



X. Cap, stem antl gills white 



y. Cap, stem and gills grayish to smoke-colored 



(b) Taste biting 



X. Cap sticky, furrowed at the margin; flesli not 



changing 

 y. Cap drv. not furrowed ; flesh turning blackish 



when wounded 



b. Cap green or greenish, rarely paler 



R. cinctica 



R. roseipes 

 R. rubra 



R. i Oct ens 



R. our at a 

 R. Intra 



R. nigricans 



R. ddica 

 R. adusia 



R. pectinata 



R. sordid a 

 R. vircsccns 



