Russula vinacea

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 with at least some purple, lilac, vinaceous or magenta coloring

Cap usually more than one color, mostly purples and greens, shading from one to the other randomly over the cap

Sometimes Motley Purple Russula     SubSection Cap intrinsically smoothly shaded, but sometimes with blotches of lighter color Only some gills forking, or gills forking only near the stem

Links from Look-alikes Mundane Purple Russula     Section Cap color solid, or changing smoothly and universally from center to margin

Russula vinacea     Burlingham