Russula amethystina

Russula amethystina is a conspicuous mushroom, which appears sporadically from mid-summer until the autumn under spruce and fir trees. In Northern Europe, it is very rare. It is edible, but not very easy to distinguish from similarly coloured Russula species, and practically identical to Russula turci from which it can only be distinguished by microscopic differences in spore texture. A mistake would not be very grave, however, since there are no deadly poisonous mushrooms in the genus Russula^{[citation needed]}

Description

• The cap can be up to 12 cm in diameter and varies in colour between violet, lilac, wine-red and wine-red-brown.
• The cap skin can be pulled off from the edge, right to the centre.
• The gills are from cream to bright yellow. Spore print is cream to light orange.
• The hollow stipe is initially white, later becoming yellowish or brownish.

References

• This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of 2006-05-29.
• J.H. Petersen and J. Vesterholt (eds.) (1990). Danske storsvampe. Basidiesvampe". Gyldendal. Viborg, Denmark. ISBN 87-01-09932-9. 
• Image from the Russulales news web site