Fruity Brittlegill

Russula queletii

Spruce forests, pine forests, mixed forests. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies medium-sized. Cap 5-8 cm across, sometimes larger, flattened, the centre depressed, matt, rough, purplish-violet, reddish-brown, brownish-violet, the margins paler. Gills white, later yellowish, crowded, brittle, adnate. Stem 3-8x0.5—2 cm, of uniform thickness, with a purple, pinkish-bluish tinge. Flesh white, firm, with a pleasant smell and a bitter, acrid taste. Characteristic features: flesh very bitter in taste; most often grows in wood-sorrel pine forests. Appears in small groups or singly in damp forests, likes the company of spruce, less often pine. Edible when well boiled, but because of its bitter taste it is not recommended to collect it.