Geranium Brittlegill Russula fellea (Fr.) Fr. (illustrated 55% life size) Cap 4–9cm across, convex, soon flattening, often with a broad umbo, margin smooth to slightly furrowed; straw-coloured to pale ochre-honey or buff; fairly fleshy, slightly sticky when moist; peeling at margin only. Stem 20–60×10–20mm; coloured as cap but slightly paler, cream if rubbed with iron salts; firm. Flesh white; taste very hot, smell of geraniums. Gills adnexed; coloured as stem. Spores 7.5–9×6–7µ, ovate; warts up to 0.7µ high, mostly joined by fine lines to form a well-developed network. Spore print whitish to pale cream (A–C). Cap cystidia abundant, cylindrical to narrowly club-shaped, strongly reacting with SV. Habitat with beech; late summer to late autumn. Common. Not edible.
