It is very acrid to the taste, and because of this acridity it is usually thought to be poisonous, but Captain McIlvaine says he does not hesitate to cook it either by itself or with other Russulæ. It is found very generally in the state and is quite plentiful in the woods about Chillicothe, from July to October.
Russula purpurina. Quel & Schulz.
The Purple Russula. Edible.
Figure 156.—Russula purpurina. Two-thirds natural size. Caps rosy-pink to light-yellow. Gills yellowish in age.
Purpurina means purple. The pileus is fleshy, margin acute, subglobose, then plane, at length depressed in the center, slightly viscid in wet weather, not striate, often split, pellicle separable, rosy-pink, paling to light-yellow.
Gills are crowded in youth, afterward subdistant, white, in age yellowish, reaching the stem, not greatly narrowed behind, almost equal, not forked.
The stem is stuffed, spongy, very variable, cylindrical, attenuated above, rosy-pink, becoming paler toward the base, color obscure in age. The flesh is fragile, white, reddish under the skin; odor slight and taste mild. The spores white, globose, sometimes subelliptical, 4–8µ long, minutely warted. Peck, 42 Rept., N. Y. State Bot.
This is not a large plant, but it can be readily determined by its red or reddish stem, mild taste and white spores. Found in open woods in July and August.