Powdery Brittlegill

Powdery Brittlegill Russula parazurea Jul. Schäff. (illustrated 60% life size) Cap 3–8cm across, convex then flattening; greyish, dark colours, olive, violet-grey, greyish-sepia, or chestnut, or tinged with dull green, wine, or violet; firm, rather fleshy, sometimes greasy, usually matt, often as if powdered when dry; half to three-quarters peeling. Stem 30–70×7–20mm; white. Flesh white; taste mild or very slightly hot. Gills adnexed, often forked; pale buff. Spores 5.7–8.5×5–6.5µ, elliptical; warts up to 0.5µ high, some isolated but mostly joined by lines forming a moderately developed network. Spore print palish cream (C–D). Cap cystidia cylindrical to narrowly club-shaped, without septa, moderately reacting to SV. Cap hyphae with the terminal cell usually tapering and the supporting cells rectangular. Habitat with broad-leaved trees; early summer to autumn. Frequent. Edible. Note my collection is unusually green in colour. The field photograph (d) was taken by Geoffrey Kibby.