| Russula laurocerasi Melzer |
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common name(s) : Bitter Almond Brittlegill
synonyms: Russula grata, Russula laurocerasi-laurocerasi edibility : inedible
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The cap is ochre brown, convex then expanded and depressed; its margin is strongly striate. The cap surface is smooth, matt in dry weather, viscid when young or in wet weather. The stem is whitish to ochre, hollow, turning brown when touched, without ring. The flesh is white, unchanging; its taste is acrid; the odour is strong, of bitter almonds; its texture is grainy (breaking like a chalk stick). The gills are yellowish, adnexed to slightly adnate, distant . The spore print is cream. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on the ground, in mixed or deciduous woods, with oak, beech, hornbeam. The fruiting period takes place from June to November.
Chemical tests : flesh becoming salmon pale pink when in contact with iron sulphate; positive fast and intense reaction to Gaïac; negative reaction to sulpho-vanillin. Distinctive features : ochre to red brown cap, with a furrowed margin; strong smell of bitter almonds, mixed with burnt feather; white flesh, stained with brown Russula laurocerasi is quite rare and scattered in the forest of Rambouillet, and is occasional, more generally speaking . | ||
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page updated on 14/01/18