Russula sardonia

Taxobox
color = lightblue
name = "Russula sardonia"
status = common

---

image_width=250px
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Russulales
familia = Russulaceae
genus = "Russula"
species = "R. sardonia"
binomial = "Russula sardonia"
binomial_authority = Fr.
synonyms= "R. drimeia" Cooke
"R. chrysodacryon" Singer
"R. emeticiformis" Murrill mycomorphbox
name = Russula sardonia
whichGills = adnexed
capShape = convex
capShape2=depressed
hymeniumType=gills
stipeCharacter= bare
sporePrintColor=cream
howEdible=inedible

"Russula sardonia", known as the The primrose brittlegill, is a mushroom of the "Russula" genus, which are commonly known as Brittle Gills. The fruiting body, or mushroom, is a reddish-purple, the colour of blackberry juice, and is found in coniferous woodland in summer and autumn. It is inedible, and like many inedible members of the genus, has a hot, peppery taste.

Taxonomy

It was given its present binomial name by the eminent Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1838. "Sardonia"; from the Greek means bitter or acrid, and is a reference to its taste. "Russula drimeia" described by Cooke in 1881, "R. chrysodacryon" by Singer in 1923, and "R. emeticiformis" by Murrill in 1938, are synonyms. The name has also been applied to what is now considered "R. queletii".

Description

The cap grows to around 10 cm (4 in) in diameter. It is commonly purplish-red, but brownish, and greenish forms have been recorded. Usually it is darker in colour towards the middle, which is convex when young, but becomes depressed in the centre with age. The stem is occasionally white, but more commonly is flushed with pale purple-red, and has a grape-like; easily removed bloom. It is 3-8 cm tall and 1-1.5 cm in diameter. The adnexed to slightly decurrent gills are pale primrose yellow, and they darken with age. They are narrow, and exude water droplets when young.(see photograph left) They also turn slowly pink when ammonia is dropped onto them. This identifies the mushroom to species level, and is a ‘must do’ test for the rarer colour forms. The spore print is cream. cite book | author = Roger Phillips | year = 2006 | title = Mushrooms | publisher = Pan MacMillan | isbn = 0-330-44237-6|pages=p. 26] The flesh is firm, and has a very hot taste, making the mushroom inedible.

imilar species

*"Russula torulosa" Bres. grows in the same habitat, and is said to smell strongly of 'raw apple'.cite book | author = Regis Courtecuisse and Bernard Duhem | year = (British version) 1995 | title = Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe | publisher = Harper Collins | isbn = 0 00 220025 2] It has no ammonia reaction.
*"Russula queletii" Fr. which also lives with conifers Picea (spruce), and also smells like apples.

Distribution and Habitat

"Russula sardonia" appears in late summer and autumn; growing with "Pinus" (pine) in coniferous woodland, on sandy soils. It is a common mushroom, and is found across Britain, and Northern Europe. It does not occur in North America.

Edibility

This mushroom is inedible, and has a 'pepper hot' taste. Many similar-tasting Russulas are poisonous when eaten raw. The symptoms are mainly gastrointestinal in nature: diarrhoea, vomiting and colicky abdominal cramps. The active agent has not been identified but thought to be sesquiterpenes, which have been isolated from this species [Andina D. "et al." (1980) Sesquiterpenes from Russula sardonia, Phytochemistry 19, 93-97] and the related genus "Lactarius". [cite book |last=Benjamin| first= Denis R. |title=Mushrooms: poisons and panaceas — a handbook for naturalists, mycologists and physicians|pages=p. 369|publisher=WH Freeman and Company| location=New York |year=1995| isbn=0-7167-2600-9]

References