I believe this is on of the Russula species although not quite sure. No milky juce. Turning grey on the cut. The gills might be slightly decurrent. Can anyone help with ID please?
Sepo, I agree that it's a Russula, but R. aeruginea is green. Your mushroom looks more like a species in the Russula nigricans group. Since it has fairly well spaced gills, it might be R. nigricans . . . or perhaps it's R. densifolia, which seems more likely because the gills in your photo might best be described as "close." http://www.mushroomexpert.com/russula_nigricans.html http://www.mushroomexpert.com/russula_densifolia.html Best wishes, Michael
Thank you very much Michael! It does look like R. densifolia. Also if I correctly understood all Russula that turn blackish on a cut with time are not good for eating. Is it correct? Does it also mean that other Russula that don't change color are good for eating? Sergei
Russula expert Christine Roberts spoke to our club recently on the Russula genus, and unfortunately it seems that many Russulas are seriously difficult to identify to species, even by experts armed with microscopes. However, my mycophagic friends raised in various European / Slavic countries, assure me they can eat most Russulas and Lactariuses, sometimes by carefully transforming them with specific cooking and/or preservation techniques. So, not sure what to think, the only Russula I've eaten so far is the Shrimp Russula, and only when someone else ID'd, cooked it, fed it to me, and told me what I'd eaten afterwards <grin>.
Frog, I'd be interested in hearing more about that lecture. What did she have to say? Best wishes, Michael
Hi there Michael, When I checked my notes, I found the talk was in 2005, not last year as I'd thought. I don't recall much in the way of details of this talk unfortunately (i wish my memory was better): I remember some marvellous shots of spore ornamentations, and the idea that what we've been calling R. brevipes and R. emetica in this region, may actually be different species. That caused much consternation in the crowd. She talked about the difficulty of field identification and the variability of cap colours, especially as some fade or change with age. There was a discussion where some members were certain they could identify some specific species and Christine was gently explaining why that might not be the case :-). She talked about R. nigricans, as we had questions about the longevity of the fruiting bodies, but I wish I could recall details. I was impressed with her as a speaker, and I hope she can give us a talk on Russulas again. She published a paper on Russulas in 2007, which I have not seen yet - perhaps you know of it? I gather you can request it via SVIMS at www.svims.ca/council/Russu2.pdf Oh, and she had an awesome mushroom shirt on, which I coveted <grin>. cheers, frog
Hi Illecippo, I am sorry, I have not quite got the meaning of your message. Can you expand it a little bit, please? Sepo
I think that your fungus maybe a Russula, probably nigricans or similair. One similair is Russula albonigra, common in Italy. Regards, Nico
