Greencracked Brittlegill Russula virescens (Schaeff.) Fr. (illustrated 45% life size) Cap 5โ12cm across, globose, later convex, finally flattening and often wavy and lobed; verdigris to dull green, often ochre-buff to cream in places; surface breaking up into small, flattened, angular, scurfy scales; half peeling. Stem 40โ90ร20โ40mm; whitish to pale cream, browning slightly; firm, powdered above. Flesh white; taste mild. Gills almost free, with veins connecting the bases; cream; somewhat brittle. Spores 7โ9ร6โ7ยต, elliptical-ovate to somewhat globose; warts 0.2โ0.5ยต high, fine lines absent to fairly numerous and forming a fairly well-developed network. Spore print whitish to pale cream (AโB). Cap cystidia none; gill cystidia few, not or hardly reacting with SV; cap hyphae forming a loose, cellular layer of variously shaped or inflated cells, the terminal ones tapering. Habitat with broad-leaved trees, especially beech; summer to early autumn. Occasional. Edible.
