The stem is two to three inches long, solid, white, rather firm, even, equal or tapering downward. The spores are round and spiny.
I have found it frequently on the wooded hillsides of the state. The taste when raw is mild at first, but soon develops a slight bitterness which, however, is lost in cooking. Fried in butter they are excellent. July to October.
Russula rubra, Fr.
The Red Russula.
Figure 155.—Russula rubra. Two-thirds natural size. Caps bright-vermilion. Gills forked and tinged with red.
Rubra means red, so called from the cap being concolorous, bright vermillion; showy, becoming pale with age, center of the cap usually darker; compact, hard, fragile, convex, expanded, somewhat depressed, dry, no pellicle, often cracked when old. The flesh is white, often reddish under the cuticle.
The gills are adnate, rather crowded, white at first, then yellowish, many forked and with some short ones intermixed, frequently tinged with red at the edge. Spores 8–10µ, cystidia pointed.
The stem is two to three inches long, solid, even, white, often with a faint reddish hue. The spores are nearly round and white.