Russula firmula    Jul. Schäff. 



New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Incertae sedis/Russulales/Russulaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Russulales/Russulaceae  

synonyms: Russula transiens 
(unconfirmed synonyms: Russula cinnamomicolor, Russula cuprea-cinnamomicolor)  

edibility : inedible

potential confusions with Russula firmula toxicity of Russula firmula genus Russula  

The cap is brown to violet. The cap surface is smooth, not viscid nor sticky.

The stem is pure white, without ring.

The flesh is unchanging; its taste is acrid; the odour is fruity, of applesauce or pelargonium; its texture is grainy (breaking like a chalk stick).

The gills are yellowish, slightly adnate, crowded . The spore print is egg yellow. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on the ground, in coniferous or broad-leaved woods, on a rather calcareous soil, most of the time with spruce, also with beech.

The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 5 cm (between 2 and 8 cm)
  height of stem approximately 6 cm (between 2.5 and 8 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 15 mm (between 10 and 30 mm)

Chemical tests : flesh becoming dull orange pink when in contact with iron sulphate; slow reaction to Gaïac (blue);.

Distinctive features : Violet-brown cap, shiny for a long time, with a non striate margin; taste slowly but intensely acrid; cream then yolk-yellow gills; ochre-yellow spore print; odour of applesauce or pelargonium; with conifers

Russula firmula is still unreported so far in the forest of Rambouillet, and is quite rare, more generally speaking .



page updated on 14/01/18