English: Beechwood sickener.
Synonym: Russula nobilis.
Region: Europe, Asia, North America.
Habitat: associated with Fagus, in woodland areas.
Content: sesquiterpenes.
Ecology: mycorrhizal; often damaged by slugs.
Use: inedible, probably poisonous in quantity, but not deadly; taste bitter.
MycologyCap: convex to flat, slightly depressed; red or rosy colour; 3 to 6 cm wide; weakly sticky; peels only to a third of its radius; flesh is firm, white, pink, sometimes yellowish, smells of coconut, and tastes peppery.
Stipe: white; bare; 2 to 5 cm long, 1 to 1.5 cm wide; cylindrical.
Hymenium: free; brittle gills and bright colours; gills are narrowly spaced, adnexed, rounded, white, often with a faint blue-green sheen.
Spore print: white.