Russula sanguinaria (Schumach.) Rauschert - Bloody Brittlegill

Russula sanguinaria - Bloody Brittlegill

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Russulales

Russula sanguinaria (syn. Russula sanguinea) is an infrequent species found mainly under pine trees. The cap and stem are various shades of red, often with some white areas.

The Bloody Brittlegill is generally considered an inedible mushroom, because its flesh is rather hot. In any case it is unusual to find more than the occasional scattered group, and so this is not the best of mushrooms to rely on gathering if you are really hungry.

First described in 1803 by Heinrich Christian Friedrich Schumacher (1757-1830) and named Agaricus sanguinarius, the Bloody Brittlegill was formally given its present binomial and description in 1989 on a proposal (published after his death) by the German mycologist Stephan Rauschert (1931-1986). (Vast numbers of gilled fungi were dumped into the Agaricus genus in the early days of fungal taxonomy; most have since been moved to other genera leaving in the present-day Agaricus genus a much smaller number of gilled mushrooms that are sometimes referred to as the 'true mushrooms'.)

Identification Guide

	Red and purple brittlegills are particularly difficult to identify with certainty without resorting to chemical tests and microscopic examination, but specimens of Russula sanguinaria with red-flushed stems are quite distinctive. Just to make matters more complicated, very occasionally all-white specimens are reported. You may also find this mushroom recorded under its synonymous scientific name Russula sanguinea.
	Cap 4 to 10cm in diameter, the caps are convex at first, becoming flat and often with slightly depressed centres. Blood red or purple-red, often with whitish areas, the cap cuticle easily peels marginally.
	Gills Adnexed or slightly decurrent, the narrow, brittle, forked gills are at first cream and then pale ochre, darkening slightly as the fruiting body ages.
Stem	10 to 30mm in diameter and 4 to 10cm tall, the brittle stems are flushed red or purple. There is no stem ring.
	Spores Ovoid; 7-10 x 6-7.5µm; warts to 0.8µm tall with a few warts joined by connectives but not even a partial reticulum (network). Spore print Cream.
Odour/taste	Faint fruity odour; somewhat hot and occasionally also bitter tasting.
Habitat	In coniferous woodland, mainly under pines. In common with other members of the Russulaceae, Russula sanguinaria is an ectomycorrhizal mushroom.
Season	July to October.
Occurrence	Infrequent but locally abundant.
Similar species	Russula xerampelina is sometimes red with a stem also flushed the same colour; it smells of crab meat.

Reference Sources

Fascinated by Fungi, Pat O'Reilly 2011.

The Genus Russula in Great Britain, Geoffrey Kibby 2011.

Dictionary of the Fungi; Paul M. Kirk, Paul F. Cannon, David W. Minter and J. A. Stalpers; CABI, 2008

Taxonomic history and synonym information on these pages is drawn from many sources but in particular from the British Mycological Society's GB Checklist of Fungi and (for basidiomycetes) on Kew's Checklist of the British & Irish Basidiomycota.