Species details
Fruity brittlegill
Russula queletii
Inedible
Photo: Holger Krisp · CC BY 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A blood-red to violet-red Russula with a reddish-flushed stem, fruity smell, and very acrid flesh.
Identification features
The cap is red to purplish-violet and shiny when moist. Gills start white and become cream to yellowish. The stem is often distinctly flushed violet-red.
Identification checklist
Check the violet-red cap and stem, pale gills, fruity smell, and brittle Russula texture. FungiTrail does not recommend tasting acrid flesh.
Detailed features
- Cap
- The cap is red to purplish-violet and shiny when moist.
- Hymenophore
- Gills start white and become cream to yellowish.
- Stem
- The stem is often distinctly flushed violet-red.
- Smell
- Pleasantly fruity, sometimes like fruit compote or baked apples.
- Spore print
- Deep ochre-yellow.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 4–10 cm
- Stem height
- 3–6 cm
- Stem diameter
- 1–2 cm
Habitat
Grows mainly under spruce, often on basic soils, in summer and autumn.
Fruiting period
July, August, September, October
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Host trees
- Spruce (Picea)
- Substrate
- Forest soil
- Soil
- Calcareous
- Notes
- Grows mainly under spruce, often on basic soils, in summer and autumn.
How to separate similar species
Russula sardonia is similarly coloured and also acrid. Red Russula are difficult, so colour alone is insufficient.
Similar species
Interesting facts
Did you know? Check the violet-red cap and stem, pale gills, fruity smell, and brittle Russula texture. FungiTrail does not recommend tasting acrid flesh.