REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST I906 75 



Russula variata Banning 



VARIABLE RUSSULA 

 State Mus. Bui. 105. 1906. p. 41, pl.ioi, fig. 1-5 



Pileus firm, convex becoming centrally depressed or subinfundi- 

 buliform, viscid, even, the thin pellicle separable on the thin even 

 margin, reddish purple or brownish purple, often variegated with 

 green or wholly pea-green, flesh white, taste acrid or sometimes 

 slightly and tardily acrid ; lamellae thin, narrow, close, often forked, 

 tapering toward each end, adnate or slightly decurrent, white; 

 stem equal or nearly so, solid or sometimes cavernous, white ; spores 

 white, subglobose, .0003-.0004 of an inch long, .0003 of an inch 

 broad. 



Pileus 2-4 inches broad; stem 1.5-3 inches long, 5-8 lines thick. 



Woods. Common and variable. July and August. Edible. 



Distinguished from the forked russula by its more forked narrow 

 and closer lamellae and by its acrid flavor. This is destroyed by 

 cooking. The pileus may be dark purple or pinkish purple either 

 wholly or intermingled with pale green or it may be wholly pale 

 green. R. aeruginascens Pk. [State Mus. Rep't 53, p. 843] 

 is a form of this species with yellowish green pileus. 



Rigidae Fr. 



Pileus compact, firm, commonly dry, without a distinct viscid 

 pellicle, the cuticle often cracking or breaking mto adnate scales or 

 furfuraceous granular or mealy particles, the margin typically even, 

 lamellae broader anteriorly causing the margin to appear obtuse. 

 I The most notable character of the group is the dry surface of 

 the pileus becoming squamose, granular, mealy pruinose or un- 

 polished. The margin is commonly even as in the two preceding 

 groups, but there are several exceptions to this. The lamellae are 

 normally forked and unequal, but in a few instances they are nearly 

 equal. 1 



KEY TO THE SPECIES 



Pileus green or greenish i 



Pileus so;ne other color • 4 



I Pileus even on the margin 2 



I Pileus striate on the margin when mature crustosa 



2 Taste mild ._ 3 



2 Taste acrid viridella 



3 Surface of the pileus scaly or warty virescens 



3 Surface of the pileus irregularly rimose on the margin cutefracta 



