Hintapink or Crab brittlegill

Cap 5-15 cm across (large, fleshy), when young hemispherical, becoming with age flat and spreading with a slightly depressed center. The cap skin is smooth, shiny and slimy in wet weather, dry and matte in dry weather. Peels 2/3 of the way to the center. Color bright red, blood-red with a distinct orange or ochre tint, richer in the center. In mature caps the edge has fine radial grooves.

Cap 5-15 cm across, when young hemispherical, becoming with age flat and spreading with a slightly depressed center. The cap skin is matte, slightly sticky in wet weather, dry and matte in dry weather, peels easily 2/3 of the way to the center. Color wine-red, purple-violet, burgundy in the center, paler toward the edge, fading to pinkish-gray and ochre. In mature caps the edge has fine radial grooves.

Gilled hymenophore — the gills are attached or free from the stem, crowded, fleshy, brittle. Color whitish at first, becoming cream-yellowish to ochre-cream with age. Spore print yellow-cream to ochre — a diagnostic feature (sets it apart from the white print of R. emetica).

Gilled hymenophore — the gills are attached or free from the stem, moderately crowded, fleshy, brittle. Color cream-white when young, becoming ochre-yellow to yellow-brown with age (from the mature spore powder). Spore print yellow-ochre to yellow-brown.

Stem 5-10 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick, firm, fleshy, cylindrical, thickening toward the base. Color whitish, often with a characteristic pink or reddish tint in the lower part — a diagnostic feature. Surface smooth with fine lengthwise wrinkles. No ring.

Stem 5-10 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick, firm, fleshy, cylindrical, hollow inside in old specimens. Color white when young, with a characteristic pink or wine-colored tint, where pressed or cut it slowly turns yellow, then brown — a diagnostic feature. Surface smooth with fine lengthwise wrinkles. No ring.

Flesh firm, brittle, white, slowly turns yellow when cut (a reaction typical of the genus Russula). Smell distinctly fruity and pleasant, with a hint of apple in young specimens, taste mild, sweetish-nutty, with no bitterness or acridity at all — a diagnostic feature (tongue test).

Flesh firm, brittle, white, slowly turns yellow when cut, then brownish over time (especially in the stem) — a characteristic reaction of the species. Smell distinctly fishy and briny (smoked herring, shrimp, fish) — the main diagnostic. Taste mild, nutty, with no bitterness or acridity.

A distinct, pleasant fruity-apple smell, especially in young specimens. No unpleasant notes.

Distinctly fishy and briny: smoked herring, cooked shrimp, fish. A diagnostic feature of the species, clearly noticeable when cut and in the finished dish.