| Russula nitida (Pers.:Fr.) Fr. |
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common name(s) : Purple Swamp Brittlegill
synonyms: Russula betulina
edibility : edible
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The cap is with variable shades: red to Bordeaux, often buff or greenish at the centre, convex then expanded then often a bit depressed; its margin is striate to furrowed. The cap surface is smooth, not viscid nor sticky. The stem is white or washed with pink-red at the base, without ring. The flesh is white, unchanging or hardly yellowing; its taste is mild to ever so slightly hot; the odour is not distinctive to sweet with age; its texture is grainy (breaking like a chalk stick). The gills are yellowish, free to adnate, crowded (nb of gills per 90° ~ 22 ). The spore print is pale ochre (E-G). This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on the ground, in moist places of broad-leaved woods, on a rather acid soil, with birch (rarely spruce). The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Chemical tests : flesh becoming dull pink when in contact with iron sulphate; quick reaction to Gaïac (bright blue);. Distinctive features : shiny red-wine cap, with a greenish shade at its centre and a furrowed margin; yellowish gills with easily seen interconnected veins at their bottom; stem washed with pink at its base; white flesh, with a mild taste, hardly yellowing; with birch Russula nitida is quite rare and localised in the forest of Rambouillet, and is occasional, more generally speaking . | ||
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page updated on 14/01/18