About this fungus
Primrose Brittlegill is a fungus in the Russulaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A firm purple-red brittlegill of pine woods, often with a lilac or wine-coloured stem and gills that develop a distinctive primrose-yellow tone.
What to check
Check for pale yellow to primrose gills, a purple-red cap, a white stem often flushed lilac or wine, and growth with pine on the woodland floor. There is no ring or volva. This combination is more useful than cap colour alone, but a secure species name may still need spores and microscopic cap characters.
Variation
Caps range from violet-red and blackberry-purple to brownish red, greyish, greenish or occasionally yellowish, and they often fade with age. The stem flush and yellow gill colour can both be weaker in young or weathered mushrooms.
Lookalikes
Russula torulosa, Russula atropurpurea and several other purple-red brittlegills overlap in colour. Tree partner, gill colour, stem flush, spore print and microscopy should be used together. Smell and colour are supporting clues, not proof of the exact species.
Habitat and range
Ectomycorrhizal with pine in coniferous woodland, often on sandy or acidic ground. Reports beyond its best documented European range should be checked against regional Russula treatments because similar species occur elsewhere.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
Jerzy Opioła / CC BY-SA 4.0