Fungus

me too jeannette !! i especially entered SOIL & debris (russulas aren't on wood/trees), on your picture is gras to see (beneath should lay soil). russulas are mychorizal (means the mycelium is kind of in symbiosis with the root of trees),So i don't know where the pine-trees are but roots can spread relativly far.! you have to decide it is your call. :) good luck

hi jeannette.This spotting and the other 3 (all 4 red russulas, could be the same if you found them, not further apart than 1km) i gone through the danish key with some average options for russulas: pilus=funnelshaped p-surface= without structure p-color= type red p-= dry stripecolor= white = ring absent lamellae= decurent l-color = white l-= medium ! spore=white ecology= on sol and debris --- RESULT: first R. luteotacta and then R. mairei and some others. try it yourself again, you can use above mentioned features and surely improve some little detail out of your memory. Good luck (btw: for that you're lost, have you guessed very well, [have seen amanitas suggested as ink caps]) :)

hi jeannette, i make a little pause from home-cleaning and saw this. : here have you a site (danish) with fungi-id-keys. Try it yourself, when you dont get through it, will i help you later. ( http://www.mycokey.com/newMycoKeySite/MycoKeyIdentQuick.html ), ( http://www.mycokey.com/ )good luck

Okay...didn't read carefully - sorry :) That excludes the possibility of a Beechwood Sickener (pretty similar and often confused with the real Sickener - which i'd say it is most likely)

Which trees grew around that species?