or white flushed with purple or pink, especially toward the base; equal or swollen at the base or mid-stem; surface bald and dry, or slightly tacky
SPORE PRINT: Creamy to pale yellow
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; solitary, scattered, or gregarious in humus or on lawns under broadleaf trees, especially oaks; common
EDIBILITY: Edible
COMMENTS: This is a common, attractive species in lawns or wood edges under oaks. It was described by Charles Horton Peck, a nineteenth- and early twentieth-century mycologist. He named it after his wife.
Russula mariae
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Russula vinacea Burl.
SYNONYM: Russula krombholtzii Shaffer
COMMON NAME: Blackish Red Brittlegill
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 4-1/2 in. wide; variable in color, purplish red, blackish, dark liver red, at times with pink or yellow tones; convex to broadly convex, becoming nearly flat, at times with a depressed center; surface tacky when fresh and moist; bald; faintly striate at times
FLESH: White, unchanging when damaged; brittle; odor not distinctive; taste mild or slightly acrid
GILLS: White becoming creamy or pale yellow, slowly developing rusty-brown stains in age; attached; close; moderately broad; brittle; edges even; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; white, at times becoming grayish and developing rusty-brown spots; equal or tapering upward; surface dry, bald, smooth or slightly wrinkled
SPORE PRINT: White to cream
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; solitary to scattered in humus or moss under broadleaf trees, especially oaks and hickories; spring through fall; fairly common
EDIBILITY: Reported as edible; the author has not tried it
COMMENTS: This is one of the first Russula species to appear in the spring. The often dark-red to blackish cap and early season appearance help distinguish this species from the many other red-capped species in this genus. Identifying red Russula species is a challenge. Most are beyond the scope of this book. See the comments in the introduction to the genus.
Russula vinacea
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Russula brevipes Peck
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: Short-Stalked Brittlegill
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 8 in. wide; white to cream, often covered with dirt; convex with a central depression at first becoming nearly flat to funnel shaped in age; surface dry, smooth to fibrillose, becoming cracked at times; margin incurved at first and often remaining so into maturity
FLESH: White, at times staining brownish on exposure; firm, brittle; odor not distinctive, or somewhat unpleasant; taste mild to acrid; taste of variety acrior is reportedly very acrid
GILLS: White to creamy or pale yellow, staining reddish brown; subdecurrent; close to crowded; narrow; forking at times; edges even; no partial veil
STEM: Up to 2-1/2 in. long; white to cream, staining brownish; nearly equal; solid, becoming hollow; surface dry, bald
SPORE PRINT: White to cream
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; solitary to gregarious in litter, often partially buried, under pines; summer and fall; common
EDIBILITY: Edible, but generally considered mediocre; the author has not tried it
COMMENTS: This species frequently appears mostly submerged in pine duff. It often occurs with Lactifluus deceptivus (p. 41), which looks very similar, but its gills exude latex when damaged. Russula brevipes var. acrior has a blue band at the stem apex and at times shows blue tints on the gills and cap. Compare with other, similar-sized white mushrooms, such as Hygrophorus sordidus (p. 69) and Tricholoma subresplendens (p. 91). These usually occur with oaks and are not associated with pines. There are also similar, less common, whitish species (not included here) in the genera Leucopaxillus and Clitocybe.
Russula brevipes
MILK MUSHROOMS
Lactarius and Lactifluus
THESE TWO GENERA of medium to large mushrooms exude latex when the gills or flesh are cut or damaged. Sometimes the latex is scant or watery, and close observation is needed to see it. They are treated in older field guides as all being in the genus Lactarius. Macroscopically they are very much alike. General characteristics include white, cream, buff, or yellowish spore deposits; fleshy but rather brittle caps and stems; no partial veil or volva; and a mycorrhizal association with trees. They are rather squat mushrooms, with the cap often being wider than the stem’s length. Their sister genus is Russula, whose species do not exude latex when cut or damaged, and most species are very brittle. Keys are organized here into three groups: species with acrid white latex; species with mild white latex; and species with colored latex. Several of the species in the genus Lactifluus with mild-tasting latex are considered to be good edibles.
Lactarius peckii
Lactifluus lignyotus
Lactarius aspideoides
Lactifluus volemus v. flavus
Key to the Milk Mushrooms, Lactarius and Lactifluus
Latex acrid or peppery, whitish
Latex rapidly becoming yellow on exposure
1. Under oaks, without prominent reddish-brown stains: Lactarius
