Rosy Russula

The first (and only time) I've been on a guided mushroom hike, I expected to hike around for hours, hunched over, vainly trying to find an interesting mushroom or two. Instead, we got out of the car, started walking to the trail head, and right there, along the side of the road, was a bright red mushroom. I was excited, so I brought it to our guide, who proceeded to manhandle it to pieces. Luckily, I would find out that they are very common, at least where we were. I got over my disappointment.

The Rosy Firm Russula (Russula rosea), like all russulas, have flesh that crumbles when you break it, instead of being stringy, like most others. It's pretty short, has a convex to flattish cap and medium spaced, brittle gills. But its the red color and the crumbly flesh make this a pretty easy mushroom to identify. You can also tell it's not one of the other red russulas by the fact that it doesn't have a peppery hot taste, but that's for another day. Enjoy!