Redhead Brittlegill
Confined to growing under two-needle pines such as Bishop or shore pine, this fungus is easy to identify. Its cap color is a cherry red to scarlet but may fade some with age. Caps are up to 5inches across, smooth and viscid, convex initially but becoming indented with upturned margins in age. Cap margins lack striation seen in so many Russulas. The gills are close to moderately spaced, with occasional short gills. They are attached to minimally decurrent, cream to white becoming yellowish in age, and often forking near the margin. They drop a spore print that is some shade of yellow. The caps of mature specimens are wider than the stipes are tall. Stipes are smooth, dry and pink or rosy, but sometimes white with a pink flush. Yellowing towards the base is occasional. There is no annulus. There is no odor but the taste is immediately hot and peppery. It has long been miscalled Russula sanguinea after the European lookalike but genetic work has confirmed that the species are different. Its chief lookalike in the PNW is Russula americana, which shares the colors but associates with hemlock and fir and prefers a montane habitat, compared to the preference for wet terrain seen in R. rhodocephala. Russula emetica in its red variation is another mimic but its stipe is white as is the spore print. The two frequently co-occur under pine, however, and share a peppery taste.