A plain, whitish to cream Russula with a sticky cap when moist and a strongly acrid taste. It was described from eastern North America, and the name has also been applied, more loosely, to similar oak-associated collections in California. It is one of several pale Russulas that are hard to tell apart without microscopy.
Not edible. The taste is acrid (peppery), and acrid Russulas are treated as gastrointestinal irritants. Wikipedia describes it as inedible though not known to be poisonous; MykoWeb lists edibility as unknown and notes that no related cream-colored species has culinary value. Do not eat.
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Habitat
Ectomycorrhizal; on the ground, alone or in groups, in mixed or coniferous woods and at forest edges, often near oaks; tolerates poor soils along roads and trails. In California mostly under coast live oak, from the fall rains to mid-winter.
Distribution
Eastern North America (Wikipedia). MykoWeb applies the name in a broad sense to a common Russula under coast live oak in the San Francisco Bay Area, also reported from mixed coastal forests and low elevations of the Sierra Nevada; whether that material is the same species has not been confirmed.
Characteristics
Cap: 2.5-10 cm, convex to nearly flat, white to cream or buff at the center, often looking dingy; sticky when moist; skin peels a short distance from the margin. Gills: white becoming cream, evenly spaced, attached to slightly decurrent, occasionally forked near the stem, brittle. Stem: 2.5-6 cm long, 0.8-2 cm thick, white, smooth, brittle. Flesh: white, fragile; odor indistinct; taste weakly to strongly acrid. Spore print: pale yellow to cream (Wikipedia; MykoWeb California Fungi).
