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Cap color

Pink

Pink — mushrooms with the trait «Pink»

Pink in mushrooms (from pale pink to deep carmine) is fairly rare. Most often it shows up in one of two ways: as a natural pigment in certain species, or as the result of red mushrooms fading in the sun.

24 species in the database.

Naturally pink mushrooms

M.Ya. Zerova and David Arora give classic examples of mushrooms for which pink is a telltale color:

1. Brittlegills (Russula): This is the genus richest in pink shades. For example, the rosy brittlegill (Russula rosea) has a lovely carmine-pink cap. This species is edible, although its flesh can be slightly bitter. The hintapink also often shows pink shades.

2. Rosy bonnet (Mycena rosea): A very pretty, small, delicate mushroom shaped like a little bell. It has a clean, translucent pink color and a strong smell of radish. Warning: this mushroom contains the toxin muscarine and is poisonous.

3. Woolly milk cap (Lactarius torminosus): A well-known mushroom from the milk cap genus. It has a shaggy, pale pink cap with concentric rings. A conditionally edible mushroom, used only for salting after soaking.

When red fades

Roger Phillips notes that mushrooms called "pink" are very often actually red ones that have lost their pigment.

A vivid example is the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria). If this mushroom grows in an open, sunny clearing or gets frequent rain, its bright red skin washes out and fades to pale pink, and sometimes even orange-yellow. The white spots (scales) can wash off as well. Beginners often mistake such a pale pink, spotless fly agaric for a brittlegill, which leads to poisonings.

Questions and answers

If a mushroom's cap is pink, does that mean its gills are pink too?
No, the two aren't connected. For example, the rosy brittlegill has perfectly white gills. The common field mushroom, on the other hand, has bright pink gills even though its cap is white.
Are there pink boletes?
Yes, some boletes have pink shades on the cap. But pink under the cap is far more dangerous. If you find a mushroom that looks like a brown birch bolete but its tube layer (hymenophore) is a dirty pink — that's the inedible and very bitter bitter bolete (Tylopilus felleus).

Sources

  1. 1.Зерова М.Я. та ін. Визначник грибів України. 1979
  2. 2.Roger Phillips. Mushrooms (Roger Phillips)
  3. 3.David Arora. Mushrooms Demystified
  4. 4.Index Fungorum