A medium to large brittlegill with a very variable cap, in purple, brown, grey or green tones, and white gills that are unusually flexible and greasy to the touch rather than brittle. It is ectomycorrhizal and common in broadleaf woods, especially with beech and oak.
Edible, with a mild, nutty taste; flesh softer than in many edible brittlegills. Confirm the flexible, greasy gills and mild taste. Acrid species such as R. emetica cause gastrointestinal upset, and green-capped forms must be kept apart from the deadly death cap (Amanita phalloides), which has a ring and a cup-like volva at the stem base.
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Habitat
On soil in broadleaf and mixed woodland, ectomycorrhizal mainly with beech and oak, occasionally with conifers; often under old trees in parkland. In Britain and Ireland it fruits July–November.
Distribution
Very common across Europe wherever beech and oak grow, including Britain and Ireland. Reported from parts of North America (July–October in the east and Mountain states, October–January farther west), but North American collections may not all be true R. cyanoxantha.
Characteristics
Cap: 4–18 cm (usually 5–15 cm) across, nearly spherical becoming convex then flat with a slight central depression; colour very variable (purple, brown, grey, or green in the form peltereaui), usually darker at the centre; cuticle peels about halfway. Gills: White to cream, crowded, adnexed to slightly decurrent, sometimes forked; greasy and pliable, bending rather than shattering when pressed. Stem: 5–10 cm tall, 1.5–3 cm thick, white, occasionally tinged purple; no ring. Flesh: White; does not turn salmon with iron salts (FeSO4). Taste: Mild. Odor: Not distinctive. Spore print: White. Spores: 7–9 × 5–6 µm excluding ornamentation, ellipsoid, with blunt isolated warts.
