Brittlegills, the most common mushrooms in the forest

Brittlegills are probably the most common mushrooms in our forests. Their bright caps in red, green, yellow or purple turn up practically at every step from early summer to late fall. But despite their Ukrainian name, syroizhka (“eaten raw”), not all brittlegills can be eaten raw, and some are bitter or even poisonous. So pick them wisely.

Let's work out how to recognize a good brittlegill, which colors should put you on guard and why these mushrooms are so fragile.

How to recognize a brittlegill

Brittlegills belong to a large genus, but they share common traits that make them easy to tell apart from other mushrooms.

• Cap. Rounded, flattening or even becoming sunken with age, with smooth, often shiny skin.
• Gills. White or cream, even, brittle.
• Stem. White, cylindrical, with no ring and no sac at the base.
• Flesh. White, very fragile, crumbles easily.

Most importantly, a brittlegill has neither a skirt on the stem nor a sac at the base. These are exactly the details that set it apart from dangerous mushrooms such as the death cap.

Which brittlegills are edible

There are plenty of tasty species among brittlegills, and they all share one simple trait.

Edible brittlegills are not bitter. Among the best are the bare-toothed russula, greencracked brittlegill and other species with a mild, nutty taste. These are usually brittlegills in calm colors: greenish, brown, yellowish, pink.

There's a simple way to check: break off a tiny piece of the cap and touch it with your tongue. If the taste is mild, the brittlegill is edible; if it's burning and bitter, leave the mushroom be. Spit out the piece you tasted without swallowing it.

Which brittlegills are dangerous

Not all brittlegills are safe, so a few rules are worth remembering.

• Hot and bitter. Bright red acrid brittlegills, such as the sickener, cause digestive upset. Bitterness is your signal to pass.
• Bright red with a blood-red tinge. Most of the acrid species are among them, so beginners are better off leaving them alone.

And most importantly: a young greenish brittlegill can be mistaken for the death cap. We show in detail how to tell them apart in our comparison of the death cap and the greencracked brittlegill.

Why brittlegills are so fragile

Their remarkable fragility is the brittlegill's signature trait, and it has both upsides and downsides.

Brittlegill flesh is made up of rounded cells, so it crumbles easily and the gills break at the slightest touch. That's why it's hard to carry brittlegills home in one piece, and they often go on top of the basket.

But this same fragility helps you recognize the mushroom: if the gills and flesh are brittle as chalk, you're most likely looking at a brittlegill. In the kitchen, brittlegills are fried, boiled and salted, and the slightly bitter species are boiled before cooking. Unsure about a mushroom? Check it against our safe foraging rules.

Sources

• “Key to the Fungi of Ukraine” (Kyiv, Naukova Dumka publishing house).
• Russula in GBIF, the global biodiversity database.
• Russula in MycoBank, the international fungal nomenclature database.
• Russula on Wikipedia.