Species flashcards

Description

Cap: 5–10 cm across; convex when young, later flattening and sometimes slightly depressed in the centre. Bright cinnabar-red or rosy-red, often with ochre patches. The surface is matt, finely frosted or velvety; the skin is scarcely peelable and often cracks in dry weather.

Gills: Attached to the stem, crowded and brittle; whitish at first, later yellowish to cream. The edges, especially near the cap margin, are often reddish.

Stem: 4–8 cm tall and 1.5–3 cm thick, stout, cylindrical to slightly club-shaped. White, often flushed rosy-red towards the base.

Flesh: White, very firm, compact and brittle. The smell is unremarkable; the taste is usually somewhat bitter and reminiscent of pencil wood or cedarwood.

Spores: Spore print white; spores nearly spherical, warted and partly reticulate.

Occurrence: A mycorrhizal species fruiting from July to October in deciduous and coniferous woodland, particularly with oak and beech. It tolerates dry conditions.

Edibility: Inedible. It contains no known toxins, but its tough, bitterish flesh and resemblance to red-capped poisonous russulas mean it is not recommended for consumption.

Lookalikes: May resemble the bitter rosy russula, the sickener and the blackish purple russula.

Note: The epithet lepida means pretty or elegant, referring to the conspicuous red cap.

Species description: Scientifically described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1836.

Taxonomy

1. PhylumBasidiomycota
2. ClassAgaricomycetes
3. OrderRussulales
4. FamilyRussulaceae
5. GenusRussula

• Species: Russula lepida
• Synonym: Russula rosea
• Authority: Elias Magnus Fries (1836)
• English name: Rosy russula
• Ecological status: mycorrhizal
• Edibility: inedible