Species details
Shrimp russula
Russula xerampelina
Conditional / expert preparation
Photo: Dr. Hans-Günter Wagner · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo source · License
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Description
A reddish to purplish brittlegill that often develops a fishy or shrimp-like smell with age.
Identification features
The stem may be pink-flushed, flesh slowly yellows to browns, and gills are cream.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A reddish to purplish brittlegill that often develops a fishy or shrimp-like smell with age. The stem may be pink-flushed, flesh slowly yellows to browns, and gills are cream. Typical habitat: Coniferous and mixed woodland, associated with different trees depending on the species complex.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 5–12 cm, convex to depressed, dark or wine-red, paler at the margin; cap skin partly peelable.
- Hymenophore
- Gills initially whitish, later pale ochre, moderately crowded and sometimes forked.
- Stem
- 4–8 × 1–2 cm, often flushed pink to carmine, turning yellow-brown where handled.
- Flesh
- White, gradually turning yellow-brown in air.
- Smell
- In mature specimens characteristically fishy, herring- or shellfish-like.
- Spore print
- Pale ochre.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 5–12 cm
- Stem height
- 4–8 cm
- Stem diameter
- 1–2 cm
Habitat
Coniferous and mixed woodland, associated with different trees depending on the species complex.
Fruiting period
July, August, September, October, November
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Host trees
- Spruce (Picea), Pine (Pinus)
- Substrate
- Forest soil
- Notes
- Mycorrhizal in coniferous and mixed woodland; the R. xerampelina complex is taxonomically difficult and host associations can vary.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Russula emetica, Russula cyanoxantha. 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
- Sickener (Russula emetica) DANGEROUS
Sickener usually has a brighter red cap, white stem and strongly acrid taste, without the characteristic fishy smell.
- Charcoal burner (Russula cyanoxantha)
Charcoal burner has characteristically more flexible, waxy gills and does not develop the typical fishy smell.
Interesting facts
Did you know? The fishy or shellfish-like smell often develops only in older fruitbodies and is characteristic of the species complex.