A fine specimen of the green Russula should measure five inches in diameter when fully open, but three inches is probably the average size.
When once acquainted with the above as a _type_ of the Russula group, noting the firm substance, straight, equal gills, and their brittle texture; the sweet, nutty flavor common to all the edible species, these become readily identified, the _noxious_ Russulæ, as in the brilliant pink or scarlet _R. emetica_ (Plate 13), being _acrid_ and _peppery_ to the taste.
[Sidenote: =Green Russula often sufficient=]
In an auspicious season and in a congenial habitat--usually an open wood with scant undergrowth and preferably raked clean of dead leaves--the green Russula is often abundant. Familiarity even with this one species will often afford a sufficiency of fungus food during its season. A lady amateur mycophagist of the writer's acquaintance, whose home is located at the border of such a wood as is above described, and who is especially fond of the green Russula, is never at a loss for this especially prized tidbit as a reward for her daily stroll among the trees. A visitor may often see upon her buffet a small glass dish filled with the mushrooms, nicely scraped and cut in pieces--an ever-present relish between meals. For even in their natural state, as she discriminatingly says, they are "as sweet as chestnuts." This is especially the case with the "buttons" or younger specimens.
=Pileus:= Very firm; solid, dull, dry-surfaced, as with a fine "flock"; mouldy green or creamy, with sage-greenish broken spots more united at centre; occasionally entirely green, with warty patches of darker hue. At first globular, then convex with flat top, at length expanded and hollowed towards centre.
=Gills:= Pale, creamy white; commonly all of equal length, but frequently unequal and forked; very brittle, breaking in pieces at a rude touch.
Diameter of pileus, ideal specimen, four inches.
[Illustration: RUSSULA LEPIDA--CONTORTED AND CRACKED PILEUS]
This, perhaps the most common species, is figured in Plate 12, fig. 3. It corresponds with the foregoing in size as well as in general shape, firm texture, and friable nature of the gills. The pileus of this species frequently assumes eccentric shapes, or is often cracked, as seen in the accompanying cut. Its name of "purple" is probably local in its application, as it is known also as the _red_ Russula, neither of which titles is at all distinctive. Indeed, the color of the _cap_ is often a misleading character for identification, as a given species may vary greatly in this particular. This feature is thus generally omitted in purely scientific descriptions, more dependence being placed upon the tint of the flesh and that of the spore surface, the laminæ or gills, which are more permanent and reliable as a character. Thus, in the present species, _R. lepida_, the tint of the pileus or cap is often of a deep dull purplish red or ruddy wine color. Another authority describes it as violet-red and cherry-red or slightly tawny, paler at circumference. Berkeley, in his _British Fungi_, omits any reference to the color of the cap, as evidently of little value in identification. But from numerous examples gathered by the present writer, the color may, I think, be safely averaged under the general hue of dark, subdued red inclining to maroon. The surface is dull, as with a fine dust or plum-like bloom, and thus without polish. Occasional specimens appear almost velvety in the sheen of surface. But the tints of the flesh and the gills are always uniform, the _leaflets_ or gills being _pure white_ or very slightly creamy, continuous from stem to rim or occasionally forked, not crowded, curved in outline in open specimen, with broadest width near the circumference of cap. The flesh is white or slightly creamy, firm and compact as in the former species, with the same variations of outline from early stage to maturity. The stem is white, solid, and generally more or less tinted or streaked vertically with rose or pale crimson (Fig. 8). The taste of the flesh is sweet and appetizing.