7 genera
116 species
5 subspecies and varieties
Show only taxa with photos
Scientific name
Common name
– delicious milk-cap
Distribution: Broad North America and Europe
– velvety milk-cap
Habitat: Litter in spruce and mixed conifer forests along the coast and in the interior mountains
Distribution: Western
Habitat: Occurs with spruce and birch
– alder milkcap
Distribution: Western Northern Hemisphere
Habitat: Occurs with alders
Distribution: Western
Habitat: Conifer forests in PNW and Rocky Mountains
– pale-capped violet-latex milk-cap
– slimy milk-cap
Distribution: Broad Western North America
Habitat: L. pseudomucidus is frequently found in coastal and mid-elevation conifer forests, and eastward at least as far as Idaho and southward into California.
Habitat: In the PNW, L. plumbeus occurs frequently under planted birch trees and often persists into late fall as dry black specimens. In Europe, it is reported from birch and spruce forests and also is known as L. necator (Bulliard: Fries) P. Karsten and L. turpis (Weinmann) Fries.
– bearded milk-cap, downy milk-cap, woolly milk-cap
– downy milk-cap, woolly milk-cap, bearded milkcap
– yellow staining bearded milk-cap, rollrim milkcap
– bleeding milk-cap
Habitat: It occurs in a variety of habitats and seems to associate primarily with pines and Douglas-fir, especially in younger stands.
– red hot milk-cap, red milk-cap, rufous milkcap
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: L. rufus commonly occurs with spruce and pine, often in abundance, for example, near the edge of bogs or in other moist areas where Sitka spruce occurs. It is very common in northern conifer forests around the world.
– pitted milk-cap, scrobiculate milk-cap
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: common in our conifer forests
– orange milk-cap
Distribution: Coastal
Habitat: Coastal conifer forests
– purple staining milk-cap
– winecork brittlegill
Distribution: Western
Habitat: Conifer forests
– green brittlegill, grass-green russula, tacky green russula
– black and white russula, blackening russula, integrated russula
– short-stemmed russula
Distribution: Broad, common
– yellow swamp brittlegill
Description: Cap round, bright lemon-yellow to yellow, convex to flat, slightly sticky when wet. Gills start out white and slowly turn pale ocher. the stem is white and smooth. Occasionally gills and stipe turn gray-black when bruised or become gray with age.
Habitat: wet woodlands, marshes, swamps, and bogs with birch
Substrate: moss
Description: A mostly white fungus often found growing on well rotted wood. Its cap may be somewhat creamy or yellowish and the gills and stipe often develop brownish stains. Its most distinctive characteristic is its thick, tough, rubbery cap cuticle that often can be completely peeled away from the cap flesh. The spores are white and the taster is bitter to acrid.
Habitat: Old-growth forests
Substrate: Well rotted wood
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: All variety of forests with both conifers and hardwoods
– Charcoal Burner
Description: Has been referred to as \'the Chameleon\' due to its large palette of colors including dull violets, purples, and gray-greens.
Habitat: woodland
– copper brittlegill, graying russula
Description: Cap is copper-orange to dull orange to reddish brown. The gills are white to pale ocher. The stipe is white and smooth and all parts discolor gray to black when handled or cut.
Habitat: woodland; northern and montane conifer forests
– crowded brittlegill, reddening russula
– emetic russula, the sickener
Description: Cap is scarlet to cherry-red and the top layer peels easily. Gills are white. Stipe is white as well and smooth to finely and irregularly ridged.
Habitat: damp or wet woodlands, with conifers in particular
– fragile brittlegill, fragile russula
Description: Small to small-medium species with very fragile flesh that becomes water-soaked very quickly. The cap color is generally a mix of watery purple, pink, and olivaceous green on a whitish to grayish background, and the cap edge is translucent-striate. The spores are white, the odor mild or pleasantly fruity, and the taste very acrid. It occurs singly or in small groups, often on or near well rotted wood.
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: Near or well-rotted wood
– greasy green brittlegill
– almond-scented russula
Description: One of the larger russulas. It has a viscid yellowish brown cap with a grooved margin, whitish to brown-stained stipe, and strong, but generally pleasant, odor of almond extract or maraschino cherries. The spores are cream to pale yellow and the taste is very acrid.
Distribution: Western
– blackening brittlegill, blackening russula
Description: a large, hard mushroom, with brownish or blackish brown cap and flesh that turns red when bruised; it blackens almost completely in age. The spores are white and the taste is mild to slightly acrid.
Distribution: Broad Widespread in Northern Hemisphere
Habitat: woodlands
– western russula
Description: It is a medium-sized or larger mushroom, with a variably colored cap---usually it is purplish with a yellow-green center, but it can appear in many shades of purplish, olive-green, and browns, usually in mixtures. The gills are cream to pale yellowish and the stipe is white and often turns grayish in age or when handled, sometimes with a reddish phase. The flesh is white and turns reddish to grayish to black when exposed. The spores are cream-colored.
Distribution: Broad, common
Habitat: Conifer forests
– olive brittlegill, rainbow Russula, tan-colored Russula
– powdery brittlegill, blue Russula
– Pelargonium brittlegill
– bloody brittlegill, rosy Russula
Distribution: Coastal Pacific Coast, from British Columbia to California
Habitat: Conifer forests, on or near rotting wood
– crab brittlegill, shrimp mushroom, shrimp Russula
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: Variety of forest types