Russula

Around 750 worldwide species of ectomycorrhizal 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. Their distinguishing characteristics include a white to dark yellow spore print, brittle free white gills, and an absence of partial veil or volva tissue on the stem. Members of the related Lactarius genus have similar characteristics but emit a milky latex when their gills are broken. The genus was described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1796.

Taxonomy

Christian Hendrik Persoon first circumscribed the genus Russula in his 1796 work Observationes Mycologicae, and considered the defining characteristics to be the fleshy fruit bodies, depressed cap, and equal gills. He reduced it to the rank of tribe in the genus Agaricus in 1801. Elias Fries similarly regarded Russula as a tribe of Agaricus in his influential Systema Mycologicum (1821), but later (1825) raised it to the rank of genus in the Systema Orbis Vegetabilis. Around the same time, Samuel Frederick Gray also recognized Russula as a genus in his 1821 work The Natural Arrangement of British Plants. The name Russula is derived from the Latin word russus, meaning "red".