Russula sardonia

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Russula sardonia
Russ.sard.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Russulales
Family: Russulaceae
Genus: Russula
Species:
R. sardonia
Binomial name
Russula sardonia
Fr. (1838)
Synonyms
Russula sardonia
Information icon.svg
Gills icon.png Gills on hymenium
Convex cap icon.svgDepressed cap icon.svg Cap is convex or depressed
Adnexed gills icon2.svg Hymenium is adnexed
Bare stipe icon.svg Stipe is bare
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Spore print is cream
Mycomorphbox Inedible.pngEdibility is inedible

Russula sardonia, commonly known as the primrose brittlegill, is a mushroom of the genus Russula , which are commonly known as brittlegills. The fruiting body, or mushroom, is a reddish-purple, the colour of blackberry juice, and is found in coniferous woodland in summer and autumn. It is inedible, and like many inedible members of the genus, has a hot, peppery taste.

Contents

Taxonomy

It was given its present binomial name by the eminent Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1838. The specific epithet sardonia, from the Greek, means bitter or acrid, and is a reference to its taste. Russula drimeia described by Mordecai Cubitt Cooke in 1881, R. chrysodacryon by Rolf Singer in 1923, and R. emeticiformis by William Alphonso Murrill in 1938, are synonyms. The name has also been applied to what is now considered R. queletii.

Description

The cap grows to around 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. It is commonly purplish-red, but brownish, and greenish forms have been recorded. Usually it is darker in colour towards the middle, which is convex when young, but becomes depressed in the centre with age. The stem is occasionally white, but more commonly is flushed with pale purple-red, and has a grape-like; easily removed bloom. It is 3–8 cm tall and 1–1.5 cm in diameter. The adnexed to slightly decurrent gills are pale primrose yellow, and they darken with age. They are narrow, and exude water droplets when young.(see photograph left) They also turn slowly pink when ammonia is dropped onto them. This identifies the mushroom to species level, and is a ‘must do’ test for the rarer colour forms. The spore print is cream. [1] The flesh is firm, and has a very hot taste, making the mushroom inedible.

Similar species

Distribution and habitat

Russula sardonia appears in late summer and autumn; growing with Pinus (pine) in coniferous woodland, on sandy soils. It is a common mushroom, and is found across Britain, and Northern Europe. [1] It does not occur in North America.

Edibility

This mushroom is inedible, and has a 'pepper hot' taste. [1] Many similar-tasting Russulas are poisonous when eaten raw. The symptoms are mainly gastrointestinal in nature: diarrhoea, vomiting and colicky abdominal cramps. The active agent has not been identified but thought to be sesquiterpenes, which have been isolated from this species [3] and the related genus Lactarius . [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Russula emetica</i> Species of fungus in the family Russulaceae with a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere

Russula emetica, commonly known as the sickener, emetic russula, or vomiting russula, is a basidiomycete mushroom, and the type species of the genus Russula. It has a red, convex to flat cap up to 8.5 cm (3.3 in) in diameter, with a cuticle that can be peeled off almost to the centre. The gills are white to pale cream, and closely spaced. A smooth white stem measures up to 10.5 cm (4.1 in) long and 2.4 cm (0.9 in) thick. First described in 1774, the mushroom has a wide distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows on the ground in damp woodlands in a mycorrhizal association with conifers, especially pine.

<i>Russula xerampelina</i> Species of fungus

Russula xerampelina, also commonly known as the shrimp russula, crab brittlegill, or shrimp mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the brittlegill genus Russula. Two subspecies are recognised. The fruiting bodies appear in coniferous woodlands in autumn in northern Europe and North America. Their caps are coloured various shades of wine-red, purple to green. Mild tasting and edible, it is one of the most highly regarded brittlegills for the table. It is also notable for smelling of shellfish or crab when fresh.

<i>Russula nobilis</i> Basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula

Formerly Russula mairei (Singer), and commonly known as the beechwood sickener, the now re-classified fungus Russula nobilis (Velen.) is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula. This group of mushrooms are noted for their brittle gills and bright colours.

<i>Russula ochroleuca</i> Species of fungus

Russula ochroleuca is a member of the genus Russula. A group that have become known as brittlegills. It has been commonly known as the common yellow russula for some years, and latterly the ochre brittlegill. It is widespread, and common in mixed woodland.

<i>Russula claroflava</i> Species of fungus

Russula claroflava, commonly known as the yellow russula, yellow swamp russula or yellow swamp brittlegill, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula. It is found in wet places under birch and aspen woodlands across Europe and North America. It has a yellow cap, white gills and stipe and bruises grey. It is mild-tasting and regarded as good to eat.

<i>Russula nigricans</i> Species of fungus

Russula nigricans, commonly known as the blackening brittlegill or blackening russula, is a gilled mushroom found in woodland in Europe. It gains both its common and scientific name from its propensity to turn black from cutting or bruising.

<i>Russula sanguinaria</i> Species of fungus

Russula sanguinaria, commonly known as the bloody brittlegill or rosey russula, is a strikingly coloured mushroom of the genus Russula, which has the common name of brittlegills. It is bright blood-red, inedible, and grows in association with coniferous trees. It was previously widely known as Russula sanguinea.

<i>Russula betularum</i> Species of fungus

Russula betularum is a small, very pale member of the Russula (brittlegills) genus of mushrooms. It is usually white to very pale pink, inedible, and grows with birch trees. It is commonly known as the birch brittlegill.

<i>Russula brevipes</i> Species of fungus

Russula brevipes is a species of mushroom commonly known as the short-stemmed russula or the stubby brittlegill. It is widespread in North America, and was reported from Pakistan in 2006. The fungus grows in a mycorrhizal association with trees from several genera, including fir, spruce, Douglas-fir, and hemlock. Fruit bodies are white and large, with convex to funnel-shaped caps measuring 7–30 cm (3–12 in) wide set atop a thick stipe up to 8 cm (3 in) long. The gills on the cap underside are closely spaced and sometimes have a faint bluish tint. Spores are roughly spherical, and have a network-like surface dotted with warts.

<i>Russula caerulea</i> Species of mushroom-forming fungus

Russula caerulea, commonly known as the humpback brittlegill, is a member of the genus Russula, whose members are also known as brittlegills. It is a dark vinaceous or purple-colored edible mushroom, and grows with coniferous trees in late summer and autumn. It is found in Europe and North America.

<i>Russula atropurpurea</i> Species of fungus

Russula atropurpurea is an edible member of the genus Russula. It is dark vinaceous or purple, and grows with deciduous, or occasionally coniferous trees. It is commonly called the blackish purple Russula, or the purple brittlegill.

<i>Russula delica</i> Species of fungus

Russula delica is a mushroom that goes by the common name of milk-white brittlegill, and is a member of the genus Russula, all of which are collectively known as brittlegills. It is mostly white, with ochraceous or brownish cap markings, and a short robust stem. It is edible, but poor in taste, and grows in coniferous, broadleaved, or mixed woods. It can be confused with other white Russula species and certain white Lactarius species.

<i>Russula fellea</i> Species of fungus

The mushroom Russula fellea goes by the common name of the geranium-scented russula, or bitter russula and is a member of the genus Russula, all of which are commonly known as brittlegills. It is straw or honey coloured and in Britain grows in beech woods during autumn. It is inedible.

<i>Russula fragilis</i> Species of fungus

Russula fragilis, commonly known as the fragile russula, or fragile brittlegill, is a species of mushroom of the genus Russula, whose members are commonly known as brittlegills. It is a small, fragile, long stemmed, and variably coloured brittlegill, found in mixed forests, and woods in Europe, Asia, and North America.

<i>Russula gracillima</i> Species of fungus

The mushroom Russula gracillima, commonly known as the slender brittlegill, is a member of the genus Russula, whose members are commonly known as brittlegills. It is a small, pale, long stemmed brittlegill associated mainly with birch and is occasional in Europe, Asia, and North America.

<i>Russula albidula</i> Species of fungus

Russula albidula is a species of mushroom in the genus Russula. The species, known in the vernacular as the boring white russula or the whitish brittlegill, is nondescript, with a small or medium dirty white fruit body, and a highly acrid taste. It is found in eastern North America.

<i>Russula rosea</i> Species of fungus

Russula rosea, known as the rosy russula, is a north temperate, commonly found mushroom of the large "brittlegill" genus Russula.

<i>Russula foetens</i> Species of fungus

Russula foetens, commonly known as the stinking russula, is a common Russula mushroom found in deciduous and coniferous forests.

<i>Russula queletii</i> Species of fungus

Russula queletii otherwise known as the gooseberry russula, is a common, inedible, Russula mushroom found growing in groups, predominantly in spruce forest. Eating this mushroom causes abdominal pains.

<i>Russula vinosa</i> Species of fungus

Russula vinosa, commonly known in English as the darkening brittlegill, is a species of basidiomycete mushroom found in coniferous woodlands in Europe and North America in summer and early autumn. Unlike many red-capped members of the russula genus, it is edible and mild-tasting. It is usually understood to have a symbiotic relationship with evergreen tree roots, except for in mountainous areas where it has occasionally associated with birches.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Roger Phillips (2006). Mushrooms. Pan MacMillan. p. 26. ISBN   978-0-330-44237-4.
  2. 1 2 Regis Courtecuisse and Bernard Duhem (1995). Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe. British version. Harper Collins. ISBN   978-0-00-220025-7.
  3. Andina D. et al. (1980). Sesquiterpenes from Russula sardonia. Phytochemistry19: 93–97
  4. Benjamin, Denis R. (1995). Mushrooms: poisons and panaceas — a handbook for naturalists, mycologists and physicians. New York: WH Freeman and Company. p. 369. ISBN   978-0-7167-2600-5.