Species details
Milk-white brittlegill
Russula delica
Extra caution required
Photo: Chiranjivisubedi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A large whitish brittlegill with a depressed cap that often carries soil and leaf debris.
Identification features
Gills are white to cream and produce no latex; flesh is firm and brittle.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A large whitish brittlegill with a depressed cap that often carries soil and leaf debris. Gills are white to cream and produce no latex; flesh is firm and brittle. Typical habitat: Deciduous and mixed woodland, often on calcareous soils.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 5–17 cm, initially convex, later depressed to funnel-shaped, whitish with brown patches; often partly buried and soiled with earth.
- Hymenophore
- Gills white, often with a bluish or greenish tint, thick and becoming more widely spaced with age.
- Stem
- 2–6 × 2–4.5 cm, short, very broad, white and firm, sometimes brownish.
- Flesh
- White, thick and firm; no latex is exuded when damaged.
- Smell
- May be fruity or slightly fishy.
- Spore print
- White.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 5–17 cm
- Stem height
- 2–6 cm
- Stem diameter
- 2–4,5 cm
Habitat
Deciduous and mixed woodland, often on calcareous soils.
Fruiting period
June, July, August, September, October
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Substrate
- Forest soil
- Notes
- Mycorrhizal in broadleaved and coniferous woodland; fruitbodies are often partly sunken into the soil.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Lactarius vellereus, Lactifluus piperatus. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Fleecy milkcap (Lactarius vellereus)
Fleecy milkcap has a velvety-felted cap and exudes acrid white latex when damaged.
- Lactifluus piperatus
Peppery milkcap has very crowded gills and abundant acrid white latex; Russula delica has no latex.
Interesting facts
Did you know? Although it resembles large white milkcaps, the absence of latex is a key russula character.