''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 A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

in summer and autumn. It is inedible, and like many inedible members of the genus, has a hot, peppery taste.

Taxonomy

It was given its present

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

by the eminent Swedish

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their genetics, genetic and biochemistry, biochemical properties, their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ethnomycology, their use to humans, including as a so ...

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. Career Fries was born at Femsjö (Hylte Municipality), Småland, the son of the pastor there. He attended school in Växjö. He acquired ...

in 1838. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''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 Rolf Singer (June 23, 1906 – January 18, 1994) was a Germany, German-born mycologist and one of the most important Taxonomy (biology), taxonomists of gilled mushrooms (agarics) in the 20th century. After receiving his Ph.D. at the University ...

in 1923, and ''R. emeticiformis'' by William Alphonso Murrill in 1938, are

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

. The name has also been applied to what is now considered ''R. queletii''.

Description

The cap grows to around 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 Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

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. The flesh is firm, and has a very hot taste, making the mushroom inedible.

Similar species

*'' Russula torulosa''

Bres. Giacomo Bresadola ( Mezzana, Trento; often given as Giacopo) 14 February 1847 – Trento 9 June 1929) was an eminent Italian mycologist. Fungi he named include the deadly ''Lepiota helveola'' and ''Inocybe patouillardii'', though the latter ...

grows in the same habitat, and is said to smell strongly of 'raw apple'. It has no ammonia reaction. *''

Russula queletii ''Russula queletii'' otherwise known as the gooseberry russula, is a common, inedible, '' Russula'' mushroom found growing in groups, predominantly in spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of conife ...

'' Fr. which also lives with conifers ''

Picea A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

'' (spruce), and also smells like apples.

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. It does not occur in North America.

Edibility

This mushroom is inedible, and has a 'pepper hot' taste. 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 and the related genus ''

Lactarius ''Lactarius'' is a genus of mushroom-producing, ectomycorrhizal fungi, containing several edible species. The species of the genus, commonly known as milk-caps, are characterized by the milky fluid ("latex") they exude when cut or damaged. Like ...

''.

References