Milk-white Brittlegill

Milk-white Brittlegill Russula delica Fr. (illustrated 40% life size) Cap 5–16cm across, convex, cup- or funnel-shaped, margin strongly inrolled; whitish, often tinged yellow-brownish; thick-fleshed, matt, dry. Stem 20–60×20–40mm; white, often bluish at apex; hard. Flesh white, unchanging; taste hot and acrid with a bitter tang, smell distinctive, slightly of bugs, and reminiscent of certain Lactarius, sometimes fishy. Gills decurrent, often forked or with cross-connections, interspersed with numerous short gills; whitish, often tinged bluish towards the stem. Spores 8–12×7–9µ, ovate; warts 0.5–1.5µ high, often in chains or occasionally joined by fine lines not enclosing meshes, or sometimes more abundant and forming a network. Spore print white to slightly creamy (A–B). Cap cystidia worm-like to narrow cylindrical, hardly reacting to SV. Habitat with both broad-leaved and coniferous trees; autumn. Common. Edible but poor, unpleasant tasting.