Powdery Brittlegill (Russula Parazurea)

Powdery Brittlegill / Summer / Autumn / Edible

James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster, CC BY-SA 2.5 , via Wikimedia Commons

Slomox, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Lukas from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

The powdery brittlegill is a medium-sized mushroom with a grey to blue cap covered in a powdery coating. white to cream Brittle gills and a white stipe that snaps easily.

Scientific Name

Russula Parazurea

Family

Russulaceae

Habitat

Mixed Woodland but mainly broad leaved, especially oak or beech but occasionally with pine.

Description

A medium-sized mushroom with a grey to blue cap covered in a powdery coating. white to cream Brittle gills and a white stipe that snaps easily.

Identifying Features for Powdery Brittlegill:

Cap:

Matte grey, blue sometimes with a hint of green around the edge of the cap. Can feel a bit greasy when wet. The powdery bloom can wash off of the cap in heavy rain

Lukas from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Stem:

White and snaps like chalk

Gills:

Adnexed, crowded white/cream gills attached to the stem. Brittle when touched.

Elsa, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Smell:

Mushroomy smell. This mushroom can give a peppery taste but shouldn’t be hot like chilli.

Spores:

White to cream

Uses

As a delicious additive to food check out some of our mushroom recipes to see what you could use this for!

In food

Good and fleshy could be used as a feature in a big meal or too add flavour to a soup or stew.

Harvesting

Found in mainly broad leaved woodland from August throught to November

Known hazards

Other Russulas. see the four step test to check for safe Russulas.

Potential lookalikes

Other blue/grey Russulas like the Charcoal Burner, but these are edible if tested with the four step test.

Find our Russula Guide here

James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons

-Snap – Does the stem snap like a piece of chalk?
-Flick – Do the gills break when you flick them gently?
-Peel – Does the skin on the cap peel away?
-Taste– this should only be done when you have gone through the other steps and are confident that you have a Russula. If a tiny amount placed on the tongue a chilli like burn or tingle means the mushroom is poisonous but a pleasant mushroomy taste means it is edible.