[DESCRIPTIONS OF FUNGI, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO COLOR OF CAP ONLY.]
[MUSHROOMS WITH RED OR PINK COLORED CAP.]
The genus Russula probably contains the largest number of mushrooms with reddish caps, the word Russula meaning reddish.
RUSSULA EMETICA = a vomit.
The Nauseating Russula.
Cap bright blood red, at first rosy, then blood color, tawny when old, 3 to 4 inches broad, first bell-shaped, then flattened or depressed, polished, margin at length grooved (sulcate), flesh white, reddish under the cuticle. Stem 1½ to 3 inches long, ¾ of an inch thick, white or with a reddish hue, spongy, stuffed, stout, elastic when young, fragile when old, even, tapering slightly upward. Gills free, broad, rather distant, white.
This is found on the ground among dead leaves, in the woods and open places from July to December. It has a bitter taste, and is said to be poisonous. Those eating it are often affected as if they had taken an emetic. It is easily distinguished by the fact of the flesh turning red immediately under the skin when it is peeled off. There are numerous varieties of it, in one the stem has minute wrinkles running lengthwise. We found it in different localities. The taste was acrid. It was one of the first and the last mushrooms that we gathered. (Poisonous.)
RUSSULA SANGUINEA = blood.
The Blood-colored Russula.
Cap blood red, becoming pale at margin, 2 to 3 inches broad, at first convex, then depressed, and funnel-shaped (infundibuliform), irregularly swollen in the centre, polished, even, margin acute, moist in damp weather. Flesh firm, cheesy, white. Stem stout, spongy, stuffed, at first contracted at apex, then equal, slightly marked with lines white or reddish. Gills at first fastened to stem and then decurrent, crowded, narrow, connected by