Gilded Brittlegill

Gilded Brittlegill Russula aurea Pers. syn. R. aurata (With.) Fr. (illustrated 40% life size) Cap 4–9cm across, globose at first, then flattening and finally with a depression, margin often furrowed when mature; scarlet-red, brownish-coral, blood-coloured, or reddish-orange, often partly or entirely golden-yellow; fleshy, firm, sticky when moist, smooth; half peeling. Stem 30–80×10–25mm, cylindrical to somewhat club-shaped, often somewhat irregular; white to pale yellow to pale golden-yellow; firm then soft, smooth. Flesh taste mild. Gills adnexed-free, broad, fairly widely spaced, connected by veins at their bases; pale ochre, edge often yellow. Spores 7.5–9×6–8µ, globose-ovate; conical warts up to 0.7–1.5µ high, with thin to thick connecting ridges forming a partial network enclosing a few meshes. Spore print ochre (H). Cap hyphae tapering, cylindrical, spindle-shaped, or slightly club-shaped, with shortish cells; dermatocystidia and hyphae staining in fuchsin absent. Habitat with broad-leaved trees; summer to early autumn. Uncommon. Edible.