Bruising Red Russula     Section

This is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.

Flesh without fibers, fracturing with the same sort of break as a piece of chalk
Spore and gill color limited to white, yellow, or ochre
Mycorrhizal: occuring only on the ground, and only when there are trees nearby
No ring or volva on stalk
All fleshy-stemmed mushrooms whose gills exude a latex when cut go here

No latex
Cap usually brighter colored than Lactarius
Stalk usually white or tinged with color of cap

Cap red or pink, with perhaps some yellow or orange mixed in

Diagnosis

• Stem changes color to grey or black when bruised, perhaps with a red phase first

Narrow down your identification:

Cap up to 5" across; dull red, cinnamon-buff, aging (often completely) greyish olive or vinaceous; peeling 1/3 of the way to the center
Stem white, quickly becoming red, then black, when bruised
Odor pleasant
Spore print light ochre

Cap up to 6" across; bright copper-orange, bronze, or brick red, fading to dull grayish ochre
Stem bruising directly grey, aging grey
Gills white to corn yellow, aging grey
In cold, wet places under conifers

Cap up to 3 1/4" across; deep red; viscid when wet; peeling 1/2-2/3 of the way to the center
Stem bruising red or brownish, then quickly greyish black
Growing under hardwoods

Cap up to 3 3/4" across; bright red; hemispheric at first, remaining convex in age; peeling only 1/3 of the way to the center
Stem tall, robust, ventricose; apex often pink; bruising red, then dark grey

Lookalikes: Fishy Purple Russula     SubSection Bruising brown Odor of crushed or old flesh like fish or seafood just starting to go bad

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