Powdery Brittlegill
Russula parazurea
50.8843, 5.98617
Field Notes
Description:
The genus Russula includes some very beautiful and interesting species, and a lot of hard-to-distinguish species. Because russulas are typically fairly large, and because they are often brightly colored, amateur mushroomers are frequently interested in identifying them. About 20 or 30 species can be identified fairly easily--but there are perhaps 750 species worldwide.
Confounding the identification problems for North American Russula collectors is the dearth of available technical literature. I know several mycologists who maintain that Kauffman's 1918 treatment of Russula species in the Great Lakes area is still the most comprehensive and useful overall treatment of the genus on this continent! See the bibliography below if you are interested in attempting to compile a notebook of North American Russula literature by sorting through field guide descriptions and technical treatments of subgenera and sections.
Before you do, however, let me try to talk you out of it. Advanced Russula identification is a nightmare far beyond the usual frustrating realm of advanced mushroomology. In fact, I will go ahead and say it (though I am likely to receive some e-flak for my efforts): Russula identification is a joke. The "species" are defined on frequently ridiculous, variable characters; the literature goes to great lengths to cover this fact up with pseudoscientific jargon and long-winded descriptions; the use of a microscope often compounds, rather than alleviates, the frustrating milieu of variability and subjectivity; and we are at a point in time when DNA studies are likely to throw out most of the babies with the PCR-primed bathwater.
Since I am an English teacher, I feel obliged to back these points up with evidence in the paragraphs that follow. You don't just call the Emperor naked without proving it. But my main point is that the 20 or 30 species you will find in most field guides to North American mushrooms are about as good as it gets, and I will not be offended if you skip my little tirade and scroll to the links to species pages and keys below
( http://www.mushroomexpert.com/russula.html )
Habitat:
location: Europe
edibility: Edible
fungus colour: Green, Violet or purple, Brown, Grey to beige
normal size: 5-15cm
cap type: Convex to shield shaped
stem type: Simple stem
flesh: Flesh granular or brittle
spore colour: White, cream or yellowish
habitat: Grows in woods, Grows on the ground
Russula parazurea J. Schaeff.
Blaugrüner Reiftäubling, Russule presque azurée, Powdery Brittlegill.
Cap 3–8cm across, convex then flattening, with greyish, dark colours, olive, violet-grey, greyish sepia or chestnut or tinged with dull green, wine or violet, firm, rather fleshy, sometimes greasy, usually matt, often as if powdered when dry, half to three quarters peeling. Stem 30–70 x 7–20mm, white. Flesh white. Taste mild or very slightly hot. Gills adnexed, pale buff, often forked. Spore print palish cream (C–D). Spores elliptic with warts up to 0.5µ high, some isolated but mostly joined by lines forming a moderately developed network, 5.7–8.5 x 5–6.5µ. Cap hyphae with the terminal cell usually tapering and the supporting cells rectangular. Cap cystidia cylindrical to narrow club-shaped, without septa, moderately reacting to SV. Habitat under broad-leaved trees. Season early summer to autumn. Occasional. Edible. (Never eat any mushroom until you are certain it is edible as many are poisonous and some are deadly poisonous) Found In Europe.
( http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6048.asp )
Notes:
Around 750 worldwide species of mycorrhizal mushrooms compose the genus Russula. They are typically common, fairly large, and brightly colored - making them one of the most recognizable genera among mycologists and mushroom collectors. Their distinguishing characteristics include a white to dark yellow spore print, brittle free white gills, and an absence of partial veil or volva tissue on the stem. Members of the related Lactarius genus have similar characteristics but emit a milky latex when their gills are broken. The genus was described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1796.
Russula means reddish
( wikipedia ),( http://www.mycobank.org/MycoTaxo.aspx?Link=T&Rec=356926 )
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