Scarlet Brittlegill

Scarlet Brittlegill Russula pseudointegra Arnaud & Goris. (illustrated 45% life size) Cap 4–10cm across, convex, later flattening; scarlet-red to coral, sometimes with cream or whitish areas; fleshy, slightly sticky at first, later dry, sometimes slightly powdered; one- to two-thirds peeling. Stem 30–70×15–30mm; white. Flesh white; taste slightly bitter, eventually with a suggestion of hotness, smell slightly of geranium with a touch of menthol. Gills free; pale golden-yellow to saffron. Spores 7–9×6.5–8µ, subglobose; warts up to 0.7µ high, some isolated, mainly joined by fine lines to form a rather incomplete network. Spore print pale ochre (F–G). Cap cystidia absent; long, rather wide hyphae with encrustations staining in fuchsin abundant. Habitat with broad-leaved trees, especially oak on clay soils; summer to autumn. Occasional. Edible but bitter.