_Russula lepida_
[Illustration: RUSSULA LEPIDA--CONTORTED AND CRACKED PILEUS]
[Sidenote: =Color of cap misleading=]
[Sidenote: =Specific characters=]
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.
[Illustration: _Edible Russulæ_]
_PLATE XII_