Russula vinosa    Lindblad 

common name(s) : Darkening Brittlegill 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Incertae sedis/Russulales/Russulaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Russulales/Russulaceae  

synonyms: Russula obscura, Russula decolorans-obscura 

edibility : edible

potential confusions with  Russula vinosa toxicity of Russula vinosa genus Russula  

The cap is purple red to Bordeaux, brownish to coppery centre, convex then expanded to depressed; its margin is striate when mature. The cap surface is smooth, not viscid nor sticky.

The stem is white, sometimes washed with greyish pink, becoming grey then black, without ring.

The flesh is white, turning grey then black when exposed to air; its taste is mild; the odour is faint, fruity; its texture is grainy (breaking like a chalk stick).

The gills are cream ochre to golden yellow, adnexed and interveined, crowded . The spore print is intense cream. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on the ground, in damp coniferous woods, most of the time with spruce.

The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 9 cm (between 5 and 14 cm)
  height of stem approximately 8 cm (between 3 and 12 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 20 mm (between 10 and 35 mm)

Chemical tests : flesh becoming pale pink when in contact with iron sulphate; faint reaction to Gaïac; hyphs stained by fuschin.

Distinctive features : purple red cap, with brownish shades; flesh turning grey then black when exposed to air; ochre-cream interveined gills; with conifers in damp areas in the mountains

Russula vinosa is rare and confined in the forest of Rambouillet, and is quite rare, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Russula vinosa in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Russula vinosa in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18