Russula xerampelina
Encyclopedia
Russula xerampelina, also commonly
known as the crab brittlegill or the shrimp mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom
of the brittlegill genus Russula
. Two subspecies are recognised. The fruiting bodies
appear in coniferous woodlands in autumn in northern Europe and North America. Their caps
are coloured various shades of wine-red, purple to green. Mild tasting and edible
, it is one of the most highly regarded brittlegills for the table. It is also notable for smelling of shellfish or crab when fresh.
by the German mycologist Jacob Christian Schaeffer, who noted the colour as fusco-purpureus or "purple-brown". It was later given its present binomial name by Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries
. Its specific epithet is taken from the Ancient Greek
meaning "colour of dried vine leaves", xeros meaning "dry", and ampělinos or "of the vine".
Two subspecies have been recognised, var. xerampelina and var. tenuicarnosa, with thinner flesh in the cap and the stipe. The name R. erythropoda is now considered a synonym, and former subspecies R. (xerampelina subsp.) amoenipes (originally named by Henri Romagnesi
) now a separate species. A former variety with a greenish cap, R. xerampelina var. elaeodes, is now classified as R. clavipes.
As the first defined species, it gives its name to the section Xerampelinae, a group of related species within the genus Russula, occasionally all termed R. xerampelina in the past.
Common name
s include shrimp mushroom, shrimp Russula, crab brittlegill, and shellfish-scented Russula.
Russula xerampelina has a characteristic odour of boiled crustacean. The cap
is 6–12 cm (2.4–5 in) wide, domed, flat, or with a slightly depressed centre, and sticky. The colour is variable, most commonly purple to wine-red, or greenish, and darker towards the centre of the cap. There are fine grooves up to a centimetre long running perpendicular to the margin. The gills have a mild to rather bitter taste, narrowly spaced, and turn creamy-yellow on ageing specimens. The spore print
is creamy-yellow to ochre. The oval spores measure 8.8–9.9 by 6.7–7.8 µm and are covered with 1 µm spines, The stipe
4–8 cm (1.6–3.2 in) long, 1.5–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) wide, is cylindrical, white or sometimes with a reddish blush, turning ochre or brownish with age.
This Russula has been divided into several similar species by some mycologists. However, they all have the singular dark green colour reaction to iron salts (iron(II) sulfate
) when applied to the flesh, and all smell of shellfish. This aroma is quite distinct, and becomes stronger with age.
More reddish-capped forms could be confused with the sickener (Russula emetica
), although the latter always has a white stipe and gills; greener-capped species may resemble the also edible Russula aeruginea
.
zones, and often ranging into the Arctic Circle
, it also ranges south to Costa Rica
. Appearing in the autumn, it grows solitary, or in groups with conifers,
and seems to have a preference for Douglas Fir, or more rarely pine trees or larch
. It is sometimes found in deciduous
woods, such as beech
and oak
.
Variety tenuicarnosa has been found on sandy soils under pine in Slovakia and northern Italy in Trentino.
species of its genus, although the crab, or shrimp taste and smell will persist even when cooking. This is more pronounced and less pleasant in older specimens. The young caps are said to be superb stuffed with any suitable ingredients, and are rarely maggoty.
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
known as the crab brittlegill or the shrimp mushroom, is a basidiomycete mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
of the brittlegill genus Russula
Russula
Around 750 worldwide species of mycorrhizal mushrooms compose the genus Russula. They are typically common, fairly large, and brightly colored - making them one of the most recognizable genera among mycologists and mushroom collectors...
. Two subspecies are recognised. The fruiting bodies
Basidiocarp
In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome or basidioma , is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures...
appear in coniferous woodlands in autumn in northern Europe and North America. Their caps
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
are coloured various shades of wine-red, purple to green. Mild tasting and edible
Edible mushroom
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...
, it is one of the most highly regarded brittlegills for the table. It is also notable for smelling of shellfish or crab when fresh.
Taxonomy
Russula xerampelina was originally described in 1770 as Agaricus xerampelina from a collection in BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
by the German mycologist Jacob Christian Schaeffer, who noted the colour as fusco-purpureus or "purple-brown". It was later given its present binomial name by Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries
Elias Magnus Fries
-External links:*, Authors of fungal names, Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming.*...
. Its specific epithet is taken from the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
meaning "colour of dried vine leaves", xeros meaning "dry", and ampělinos or "of the vine".
Two subspecies have been recognised, var. xerampelina and var. tenuicarnosa, with thinner flesh in the cap and the stipe. The name R. erythropoda is now considered a synonym, and former subspecies R. (xerampelina subsp.) amoenipes (originally named by Henri Romagnesi
Henri Romagnesi
Henri Charles Louis Romagnesi was a French mycologist who was notable for a thorough review and monograph of the agaric genus Entoloma , as well as extensive work on the large genus Russula, of which he described several new species.-References:...
) now a separate species. A former variety with a greenish cap, R. xerampelina var. elaeodes, is now classified as R. clavipes.
As the first defined species, it gives its name to the section Xerampelinae, a group of related species within the genus Russula, occasionally all termed R. xerampelina in the past.
Common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
s include shrimp mushroom, shrimp Russula, crab brittlegill, and shellfish-scented Russula.
Description
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
is 6–12 cm (2.4–5 in) wide, domed, flat, or with a slightly depressed centre, and sticky. The colour is variable, most commonly purple to wine-red, or greenish, and darker towards the centre of the cap. There are fine grooves up to a centimetre long running perpendicular to the margin. The gills have a mild to rather bitter taste, narrowly spaced, and turn creamy-yellow on ageing specimens. The spore print
Spore print
thumb|300px|right|Making a spore print of the mushroom Volvariella volvacea shown in composite: mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print...
is creamy-yellow to ochre. The oval spores measure 8.8–9.9 by 6.7–7.8 µm and are covered with 1 µm spines, The stipe
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
4–8 cm (1.6–3.2 in) long, 1.5–3 cm (0.6–1.2 in) wide, is cylindrical, white or sometimes with a reddish blush, turning ochre or brownish with age.
This Russula has been divided into several similar species by some mycologists. However, they all have the singular dark green colour reaction to iron salts (iron(II) sulfate
Iron(II) sulfate
Iron sulfate or ferrous sulfate is the chemical compound with the formula FeSO4. Known since ancient times as copperas and as green vitriol, the blue-green heptahydrate is the most common form of this material...
) when applied to the flesh, and all smell of shellfish. This aroma is quite distinct, and becomes stronger with age.
More reddish-capped forms could be confused with the sickener (Russula emetica
Russula emetica
Russula emetica, commonly known as the sickener, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula, one of many species with a predominantly red-coloured cap and white gills and stalk. It gets its common name from its inedibility, as it causes vomiting and diarrhea when consumed...
), although the latter always has a white stipe and gills; greener-capped species may resemble the also edible Russula aeruginea
Russula aeruginea
Russula aeruginea otherwise knows as the Grass-green Russula, is an inedible russula mushroom, found only under birch, mostly in pine forests; not rare.-Description:...
.
Distribution and habitat
Russula xerampelina is widely distributed; quite common in northern temperateTemperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
zones, and often ranging into the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
, it also ranges south to Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. Appearing in the autumn, it grows solitary, or in groups with conifers,
and seems to have a preference for Douglas Fir, or more rarely pine trees or larch
Larch
Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...
. It is sometimes found in deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
woods, such as beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
and oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
.
Variety tenuicarnosa has been found on sandy soils under pine in Slovakia and northern Italy in Trentino.
Edibility
The taste of Russula xerampelina is mild. This Russula is considered one of the best edibleEdible mushroom
Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...
species of its genus, although the crab, or shrimp taste and smell will persist even when cooking. This is more pronounced and less pleasant in older specimens. The young caps are said to be superb stuffed with any suitable ingredients, and are rarely maggoty.
External links
- Rogers Mushrooms - Russula xerampelina
- “Russula xerampelina” Healing-Mushrooms.net