A beautiful Russula, but which one?

[waynehicks1]

I found a huge number of these growing amongst grass beneath pines. I was struck by their stunning cap colour which stood out a mile in the grass. This is the first species of Russula I have come across that has a coloured stem which makes it even more of an intriguing find for me.

Question is, what species is it? I understand that the Russula genus is an extremely large and complicated one, more often than not demanding microscopy, but I'm hoping that the striking cap and stem colour may be enough to get an identification macroscopically.







Many thanks

Wayne

[Lancashire Lad]

Hi Wayne,

Problem is - reddish-purple cap with red-toned stipe and under Pinus, still leaves a few possibilities.

i.e. R.quelettii, R.sardonia, R.torulosa, R.xerampelina, etc. etc.

Trying to avoid microscopy, and narrow further using only synoptic keys would need as minimum: -

#Cap Colour
#How far the cap peels
#Stipe colour
#Cap size (average of mature specimens)
#Spore colour
#Taste
#Whether the flesh discolours when cut or bruised

And even then, without spore sizes & cystidia details it could still leave options.

Regards,
Mike.