Russula aeruginea - Green Brittlegill

Russula aeruginea - Greencracked Brittlegill

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Russulales

Few fungi have green caps, and among the brittlegills there are just two common ones; their identification is therefore not usually a problem. The Green Brittlegill has a grass-green cap, sometimes with yellowish tints but never vinaceous. Knowing that makes life a bit easier for those of us who find the many red, purple and pink brittlecaps confusing!

This is not an edible species, and in any case it is rarely found in great numbers.

Identification Guide

Cap	Grass green, paler towards margin; peels 1/2 to centre; convex, flattening only in the centre, sometimes with a slight depression; greasy when moist; margin sometimes faintly grooved; 4 to 9cm across; surface not cracked.
Gills	White, turning yellow with age; adnexed; crowded.
Stem	White, sometimes flushed with purple or red; cylindrical, sometimes tapering at base; 4 to 8cm long, 0.7 to 2cm dia.
Spore print	Ceam.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive
Habitat	Often found on the edges of pine forests but always under birches.
Season	July to October.
Occurrence	Widespread but infrequent.
Similar species	Russula virescens the Greencracked Brittlegill, is somewhat larger and distinguished by its cap surface crazing as it matures.