GILL FUNGI 



35 



or bluish-gray, radiating ; spores globose, 4-5/t. The name refers to the position 

 of the cap. 



Frequent on decaying logs or branches, often buried in the soil. 



- RUSSULA 



Closely related to L a c t a r i u s, from which it diifers in the absence of milky 

 sap. It is characterized by the very brittle cap and stem, by the swollen, cell-like 

 threads of 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 with 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 downright poisonous, but Mcllvaine insists that not a 

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

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



Key to the Species 



1. Cap typically red or yellow 



a. Cap red, rarely yellowish or white 



( 1 ) Gills white 



(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 whitish ; 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. Cap 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 when 



touched 



(2) Cap white to brown, rarely black; flesh not red- 



dening 



(a) Taste mild 



X. Cap, stem and gills white 



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



(b) Taste biting 



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



changing 

 y. Cap dry, not furrowed ; flesh turning blackish 



when wounded 



b. Cap green or greenish, rarely paler 



R. cmctica 



R. roseipes 

 R. rubra 



R. joetens 



R . aiirata 

 R. hitca 



R. nigricans 



R. delica 

 R. ad list a 



R. pcctinata. 



R. sordid a 

 R. viresccns 



