1. =Russula heterophylla--Variable Russula=
=Pileus:= Firm, solid; greenish or pinkish-gray; at first convex, with flat top, ultimately rising from centre to rim.
=Gills:= Milk-white; extremely brittle, like all the Russulæ, and easily crumbled (see Fig. 7); long, short, and forked intermixed. Fig. 5.
2. =Russula alutacea--Yellow-gilled Russula=
=Pileus:= Firm, solid; shape as in above; color very variable, from bright to deep red; cuticle thin at rim, where the lines of junction of gills are readily discernible from above by the depressed channels. Fig. 6.
=Gills:= Equal, brittle, broad; yellow-buff color in all stages. Fig. 4.
=Stem:= Solid; milk-white, commonly stained or streaked with red towards the base.
=Pileus:= In shape like above, varying in color from bright red to dull, subdued purplish, with a distinct bloom.
=Gills:= White, broad, principally even, occasionally forked as in Fig. 1; like the above, extremely brittle. Fig. 7.
=Stem:= Solid; white, usually stained and streaked with pink. Fig. 8.
Average diameter of extended pileus of each of these species about three and one-half inches; veil absent in each.
=Habitat:= All grow in woods--July-September.
[Illustration: EDIBLE RUSSULÆ. RUSSULA HETEROPHYLLA. R. ALUTACEA. R. LEPIDA.]
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.