FIELD BOOK OF COMMON GILLED MUSHROOMS 



Stem spongy; stuffed; rosy pink, paler toward the base; 

 I to 2 inches long. 



Spores white; spherical; 4 to 8 microns in diameter. 



This is a distinct and beautiful species, easily known by 

 its red stem, mild taste and white spores. The gills have 

 a few short ones intermingled and the edge often appears 

 woolly (floccose) under a lens, and red near the margin of the 

 cap. Peck. 



Russula virescens; greenish russula. Plate XV, Species 

 119. 



On ground in thin woods and open places; July and August; 

 edible. 



Cap fleshy; at first nearly spherical, becoming convex as 

 it grows older and later nearly plane or depressed at the 

 center; dry; adorned with small flaky patches or warts on the 

 surface; margin smooth and without striations; green or 

 grayish-green; flesh white; taste mild; 2 to 4 inches broad. 



Gills free from the stem or nearly so; narrow near the stem; 

 a few of them forked and a few shorter ones sometimes inter- 

 mingled with the full-length ones; white. 



Stem short; stout; firm; white; i to 2 inches long. 



Spores white; nearly globular; .00024 to .0003 inch long. 



The margin of the cap is usually even but occasionally in 

 old specimens it may be partly striate. Peck. 



The plant is well known by the green color of the cap and 

 by its surface being separated into numerous quite regular, 

 somewhat angular patches where the green color is more 

 pronounced. 



It has long been recommended for food both in Europe 

 and in this country. There are several of the russulas in which 

 the cap is green, but this species is readily distinguished from 

 them by the greenish flaky patches on the surface of the 

 cap. Russula furcata is a common species in similar situa- 

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