Charcoal burner or Green brittlegill
How they differ, how to recognize them and which is more dangerous — a mushroom comparison
The short answer
Charcoal burner and Green brittlegill are similar species that can be mixed up while foraging. The main visible difference: use: Charcoal burner — cook fresh, pickling, drying, Green brittlegill — cook fresh, pickling. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: cap color, flesh color change, partner trees.

Charcoal burner
Russula cyanoxantha

Green brittlegill
Russula aeruginea
📊 Comparing characteristics
| Characteristic | Charcoal burner | Green brittlegill |
|---|---|---|
| Edibility class | Charcoal burner Edible | Green brittlegill Edible |
| Season | Charcoal burner SummerAutumn | Green brittlegill SummerAutumn |
| Use | Charcoal burner Cook freshPicklingDrying | Green brittlegill Cook freshPickling |
| Size | Charcoal burner Medium (5–15 cm) | Green brittlegill Medium (5–15 cm) |
| Cap color | Charcoal burner VioletOliveBrown | Green brittlegill Olive |
| Cap shape | Charcoal burner Depressed | Green brittlegill Depressed |
| Cap surface | Charcoal burner Smooth | Green brittlegill Smooth |
| Taste | Charcoal burner Mild | Green brittlegill Mild |
| Smell | Charcoal burner Pleasant | Green brittlegill Pleasant |
| Flesh color change | Charcoal burner No change | Green brittlegill Yellowing |
| Hymenophore | Charcoal burner Gilled | Green brittlegill Gilled |
| Stem | Charcoal burner Central | Green brittlegill Central |
| Ring (veil) | Charcoal burner No ring | Green brittlegill No ring |
| Volva | Charcoal burner No volva | Green brittlegill No volva |
| Substrate | Charcoal burner Soil | Green brittlegill Soil |
| Nutrition type | Charcoal burner Mycorrhizal | Green brittlegill Mycorrhizal |
| Partner trees | Charcoal burner BeechOakHornbeamBirchSpruce | Green brittlegill BirchPine |
📅 Seasonality
Charcoal burner
Fruiting season
July – October
Green brittlegill
Fruiting season
July – October
🔬 Morphology
Cap
Charcoal burner
Cap 5-15 cm across, when young hemispherical, with age becoming flattened with a slightly depressed center. The cap skin is smooth, slimy in wet weather, dry and matte in dry weather, peeling 2/3 of the way to the center. Color very variable — violet-blue, green-gray, olive-violet, brownish violet with yellow patches. In a single cluster of fruiting bodies you'll often see caps in different shades. Deeper in the center, paler toward the margin, with fine radial grooves.
Green brittlegill
Cap 5-10 cm across, when young convex with an inrolled margin, with age becoming flattened with a slightly depressed center. The cap skin is smooth, slimy in wet weather, dry and matte in dry weather, peels easily 2/3 of the way to the center. Color: gray-green, grass-green, olive-green, deeper toward dark green at the center, paler toward the margin and fading to grayish. In mature specimens the margin has fine radial grooves.
Hymenophore
Charcoal burner
Gilled hymenophore — gills adnate or free from the stem, partly forked near the stem, moderately crowded. UNIQUE FEATURE: the gills are flexible and springy and don't break when pressed — run your finger over them and they bend and spring back (unlike all other brittlegills, whose gills are brittle and crumbly). Color pure white to creamy white. Spore print white.
Green brittlegill
Gilled hymenophore — the gills are attached or free from the stem, moderately crowded, thin, brittle. Color: white at first, cream with a pale ochre tinge with age. Spore print creamy white to pale ochre.
Stem
Charcoal burner
Stem 5-10 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick, firm, fleshy, cylindrical, with a small cavity in old specimens. Color white to cream, sometimes with a faint violet tinge toward the base. Surface smooth with fine lengthwise wrinkles. No ring, no volva.
Green brittlegill
Stem 4-8 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, firm, cylindrical, hollow inside in old specimens. Color: white to creamy white, without noticeable spots. Surface smooth with fine lengthwise wrinkles. No ring, no volva — a key distinguishing feature from the death cap.
Flesh
Charcoal burner
Flesh firm, fleshy, pure white, does not change color when cut — a characteristic of the species. Smell faint, pleasant, fruity-mushroomy, taste mild, sweetish and nutty, with no bitterness or acridity.
Green brittlegill
Flesh firm, brittle, white, when cut does not change color or slowly turns yellow. Smell faint, pleasant, fruity-mushroomy, taste mild, with no bitterness or acridity (tongue test).
Smell
Charcoal burner
Faint, pleasant, fruity-mushroomy, neutral.
Green brittlegill
Faint, pleasant, fruity-mushroomy, nothing sharp.
📍 Habitats
Charcoal burner
Green brittlegill
👀 Similar mushrooms — don't mix them up!
❓ Frequently asked questions
Can Charcoal burner and Green brittlegill be mixed up?
How to tell Charcoal burner from Green brittlegill?
Is Green brittlegill edible?
When do Charcoal burner and Green brittlegill grow?
Sources
- [1]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [2]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [3]MycoBank Database
- [4]Index Fungorum
- [5]GBIF
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine