Home / Russulas & milkcaps / TM0049
Pink Russula on a mossy rock
Russula sp. Genus
Angles captured. Five frames from wide context in to a clean low profile against the moss.
Morphology
Cap 7–9 cm, clear rose-pink, paler and almost white toward the margin, smooth, dry, plane to slightly depressed. Gills white to pale cream, close. Stipe pure white, stout, cylindrical, chalky — the classic brittle Russula stipe.
Habitat & substrate
Moss and thin soil over a large rock outcrop, hay-scented fern alongside.
Lookalikes & what rules them out
Genus is secure on the white chalky stipe and white gills. Species within the pink-capped Russulas is a much harder problem.
To confirm this identification
Taste a fragment of gill and spit it out — acrid versus mild splits the group. Then a spore print.
Found at Leominster State Forest, Leominster, MA on Thursday, 6 August 2026 at 11:17. See the full walk for that day's weather and everything else recorded.
Others in this group
Rosy-capped mushroom on a mossy logRussula sp. · Oct 25Moderate
Red Russula at an oak baseRussula sp. · Jul 23High for genus
Yellow-capped RussulaRussula sp. · Jul 31Moderate
Salmon-pink Russula on mossRussula sp. · Jul 31Moderate
Cluster with cracked orange-brown capsLactifluus or Lactarius · Jul 31Moderate
Rose-red Russula on mossRussula sp. · Aug 1High for genus
Large grey-brown brittlegillRussula sp. · Aug 1Moderate
Rosy cap with orange gillsLactarius sp. · Aug 6Moderate