Pinkmottle woodwax, False russula, Russula-like waxy cap

Cap: 4-13 cm; convex when young, becoming broadly convex, flat, or shallowly depressed; slimy when fresh, but often drying out quickly; bald, or finely hairy in places; the margin at first inrolled and soft or cottony, but eventually unrolling; reddish to pinkish, often with streaks or spots of color; often bruising yellow in places, especially near the margin.

Gills: Broadly attached to the stem or beginning to run down it; close; white when young, but soon developing reddish spots or becoming pinkish overall.

Stem: 3-7 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; more or less equal; white at first but soon developing the colors of the cap; bald or finely hairy; solid.

Flesh: White, or flushed with pink; thick; firm.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface grayish tan, erasing pink.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5-8.5 x 3-5 µ; smooth; ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Hymenial cystidia absent. Basidia 4-sterigmate; to about 50 µ long. Lamellar trama divergent. Pileipellis an ixotrichoderm.