Russula ballouii

Appearance

Cap: 3-9.5 cm; convex when young, later flat or broadly convex, with a central depression; dry; densely covered with pigment patches that break up as the mushroom matures; brownish yellow to rusty, orangish brown or brick red; the margin not lined; the skin not peeling easily.

Gills: Attached to the stem or beginning to run down it; crowded or close; whitish to creamy; not bruising but sometimes yellowish brown where damaged by insects.

Stem: 3-6.5 cm long; 1-2 cm thick; more or less equal; dry; textured and colored like the cap.

Flesh: White; unchanging when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive, or "of bread dough" (Bills & Miller, 1984); taste acrid.

Chemical Reactions: Iron salts negative to pale pink on the stem. KOH red to brownish red on cap surface.

Spore Print: Whitish or creamy.

Distribution

Fairly widely distributed from Texas to Illinois and New York--but apparently less common in northeastern areas.

Habitat

Mycorrhizal with oaks; growing scattered or gregariously; summer, fall, and early winter