This rather pretty, straw coloured, brittle gill found under beech trees is easily identified by its distinct, geranium-like, smell. It’s faint at first, but if you bring it into the house for further examination you will soon know it’s there.


cap from bellow next to a ruler The gills and stem are whitish, with hue matching the cap. Spore print is off white.


cross section against a ruler The cross section shows adnexed gills and white flesh.


spores in KOH Spores are ellipsoid, with that typical russula tail, in this speciment everaging 9.3 x 7.3 micron, Q 1.28 (the spore on the far left is seen looking along the longitudinal axis). As the next image shows, they are covered in quite long spines with some faint interconnections.


spores in Meltzer's reagent Spores in Meltzer’s reagent show the spines and network of connections. Focus stacked at ~1700x magnification (100x lens).