_Russula alutacea_
[Sidenote: =Botanical characters=]
Our third example of the Russula is one which is also quite common
in our woods, and which might in the extreme variation of its color
be confounded with the last by a careless observer, as indeed both
might be still further confounded with the poisonous member bearing
the red tint, and which will be hereafter considered. The _Russula
alutacea_ (Pl. 12, figs. 2, 4, 6) is a delicious species. In general
size and contour it resembles the foregoing. The color of the cap
varies from bright-red to blood-red or even approaching the purplish
red of the preceding species, lightening towards edge. But we have a
clear distinction in the color of the _gills_, which are _distinctly
yellowish_, pale ochre, or nankeen, in all stages of the mushroom, _or
even tawny_ in old specimens. They are, moreover, usually _all of even
length_, being straight and continuous from stem to circumference of
pileus, none of them forked, their juncture with the edge of the cap
being clearly manifest from above by the thinness of the cuticle. The
flesh is white, stem firm and solid, white and smooth, often tinted
with pink or red. The flesh of the cap often appears pinkish upon
peeling the cuticle from the edge. The taste resembles that of the
previous species--sweet and nutty.