Russula

Stinking Brittlegill

Russula foetens

LC Least concern Inedible 6 images

Characteristics

- Cap convex to expanded, honey-yellow to yellow-brown, with a striate cap margin, slimy in wet weather.
- Gills adnexed to adnate, yellowish-white, becoming brown-spotted with age.
- Stem white, with brown spots when older, chambered in cross-section.
- Flesh white, with an unpleasant chlorine-like smell, like a swimming pool.
- Taste at first mild, after a while sharply burning.

Ecology

Grows in deciduous and coniferous forest throughout the Nordic region, most common in the southern parts.

Similar species

Stinking brittlegills are a group of similar species that can be difficult to distinguish. Russula subfoetens is somewhat smaller and turns yellow in the flesh in contact with KOH. Russula grata and Russula illota smell of marzipan, and the latter has dark spots on the gill edge.