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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing basidia and basidiospores; ephemeral; solitary; angiocarpic, or gymnocarpic (mostly); differentiated into a stipe and pileus with the hymenium underneath the latter, or a globose or tuberiform gasterocarp (the gasteroid taxa posing taxonomic problems, some perhaps being conspecific with agaricoid species of Russula or Lactarius); small, or medium sized to large (mostly), or very large; (1–)3–15(–20) cm across. The mature pileus convex, or more or less flat or somewhat depressed. The fruit-bodies brightly pigmented (commonly), or not brightly pigmented. The top of the pileus white or whitish, or cream or yellowish, or buff, or straw-coloured, or honey-coloured, or yellowish-brown, or reddish-brown, or light brown, or dark brown, or orange, or olive, or yellow, or green, or pink, or purple, or red, or grey, or blackish. The fruit-bodies yielding latex when cut (in Lactarius), or not laticiferous; with a faintly sweetish or pleasant aroma (like coconut-toffee, in Lactarius glyciosmus), or smelling of curry-powder (in L. camphoratus), or coumarin-scented (in L. helvus), or with no particular odour other than an ordinary fungoid one. The stipe with neither ring nor volva. The hymenium of agaricoid forms, borne on gills (but internal in the gastroid forms). The hymenophore adnexed to decurrent. The basidia ‘unmodified’. The basidiospores ballistosporic (mostly), or statismosporic; hyaline, or white; ornamented; amyloid (with an amyloid myxosporium).
The hyphae without clamp connections. The hyphal walls lamellate, with a thin, electron-dense outer layer and a relatively thick, electron-transparent inner layer. The hyphae monomitic. The generative hyphae inflated. Spaerocysts present among the context hyphae, sometimes associated with latex.
Ecology. Saprophytic and mycorrhizal. The fruit-bodies borne on the ground. Found mainly in coniferous woodland, in broad-leaved woodland, and in mixed woodland, in grassy places, in heathland.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. About 350 species in Britain (mostly in Lactarius and Russula); Gymnomyces, Lactarius, Russula, Zelleromyces.
World representation. 1259 species (!); genera 7. “Widespread”.
Classification. Basidiomycota; Basidiomycetes; Agaricomycetidae; Russulales.
Comments. Several Russula and Lactarius species are more or less edible (R. cyanoxantha for example being being excellent; but some are bitter or nasty, others are uninspiring, and raw R. emetica is appropriately named). The trama heteromerous - i.e., with nests of sphaerocysts amongst the filamenous hyphae.
Illustrations. • Russula claroflava, R. delica, R. fellea, R. foetens, R. nigricans (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Russula nigricans; 2, Russula claroflava; 3, Russula foetens; 4, Russula delica; 5, Russula fellea. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Russula cyanoxantha, R. ochroleuca, R. solaris, R. vessca, R. violeipes (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Russula solaris; 2, Russula cyanoxantha; 3, Russula vesca; 4, Russula violeipes; 5, Russula ochroleuca. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Russula lepida, R. puellaris, R. sanguinea, R. virescens, R. xerampelina (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Russula virescens; 2, Russula xermpelina; 3, Russula puellaris; 4, Russula rosea; 5, Russula sanguinea. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Russula aeruginea, R. atropurpurea, R. emetica, R. mairei, R. nitida, R. queletii (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Russula emetica; 2, Russula aeruginea; 3, Russula atropurpurea; 4, Russula nitida; 5, Russula mairei; 6, Russula queletii. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Russula aurata, R. decolorans, R. nauseosa, R. olivacea, R. paludosa (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Russula olivacea; 2, Russula aurata; 3, Russula paludosa; 4, Russula decolorans; 5, Russula nauseosa. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Lactarius aurantiacus, camphoratus, cyathula, fulvissimus, helvus, rufus, subdulcis, tabidus (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Lactarius rufus; 2, Lactarius cyathula; 3, Lactarius camphoratus; 4, Lactarius aurantiacus; 5, Lactarius tabidus; 6, Lactarius subdulcis; 7, Lactarius fulvissimus; 8, Lactarius helvus. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Lactarius azonites, fuliginosus, glyciosmus, piperatus, vellereus, volemus (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Lactarius volemus; 2, Lactarius azonites; 3, Lactarius fuliginosus; 4, Lactarius glyciosmus; 5, Lactarius piperatus; 6, Lactarius vellereus. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Lactarius blennius, deliciosus, repraesentaneus, turpis, uvidus, vietus (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Lactarius blennius; 2, Lactarius vietus; 3, Lactarius uvidus; 4, Lactarius turpis; 5, Lactarius deliciosus; 6, Lactarius repraesentaneus. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Lactarius pallidus, pyrogalus, quietus, resimus, torminosus (LH). RUSSULACEAE. 1, Lactarius quietus; 2, Lactarius torminosus; 3, Lactarius pyrogalus; 4, Lactarius pallidus; 5, Lactarius resimus. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Lactarius insulsus, L. piperatus, Russula alutacea, R. heterophylla, R. nitida and R. virescens (Berkeley). RUSSULACEAE. 2, Lactarius insulsus (Fr.) Fr.; 3, Lactarius piperatus (Scop.) Fr.; 4, Lactarius serifluus (DC.) Fr.; 5, Russula heterophylla (Fr.) Fr.; 6, Russula virescens (Schaeff.) Fr.; 7, Russula nitida (Pers.) Fr.; 8, Russula alutacea (Fr.) Fr. TRICHOLOMATACEAE. 1, Hygrophorus distans Berk. From Berkeley (1860).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2008 onwards. The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
