Smelly Yellow 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

Yellow to Brownish Russula     Subgenus Cap entirely yellow or light brown

Links from Look-alikes Dark Brown Russula     SubSection Cap dark brown; peeling 1/2 of the way to the center; margin tuberculate-striate;

Diagnosis

• Smelling either sweet (like almonds or marzipan), or extremely foul
  
• Cap color various shades of yellowish brown
  
• Gills close; often stained or spotted some shade of brown
  
• Stem large, firm; usually stained some shade of brown at the base
  
• Taste acrid

Narrow down your identification:

• Cap with yellow powder, at least when young; margin sulcate or striate

• Margin tuberculate-striate

Cap up to 8" across; cuticle gelatinous; peeling 1/3-3/4 of the way to the center
Gills pale yellow to buff
Stem paler version of cap color
Stains on gills and cap yellow brown to dark yellow brown

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