How to tell Hintapink from Sickener
How they differ, how to recognize them and which is more dangerous — a mushroom comparison
Warning: Sickener(Russula emetica)
POISONOUS
Eating it causes poisoning. Do not pick it unless you have identified it with certainty.
Gastrointestinal poisoning of moderate severity — the most common serious mushroom poisoning among beginners in Europe and Ukraine.
Active toxins: heat-labile sesquiterpenes (including russulin), which irritate the lining of the stomach and intestines. Muscarine and phenolic irritants may also contribute, but the exact makeup of the toxic cocktail has not been fully established.
Latency period: short — 30 minutes — 2 hours (typical of gastrointestinal poisonings).
Symptoms: Intense nausea and repeated vomiting (often 5-10 episodes) Watery diarrhea, sometimes with mucus Severe cramping abdominal pain Profuse sweating, tachycardia, hypotension from dehydration Dizziness, headache In children — rapid dehydration with a risk of collapse
Duration: 6-24 hours in ordinary cases, up to 2-3 days in severe ones. Full recovery usually takes 3-5 days.
Deaths among healthy adults are practically unknown, but deaths from dehydration have been described in children under 5 and in people over 70 with cardiovascular disease.
First aid: 1. Call an ambulance — 112 or your local emergency number, without fail. 2. Do NOT induce vomiting (the person is already vomiting). 3. Rehydration — oral rehydration salts (Regidron, Humana Electrolyte) if the person can swallow; IV fluids in hospital for severe dehydration. 4. Keep a sample of the mushroom so a toxicologist can identify it. 5. Loperamide is CONTRAINDICATED in the first 12 h (it slows the elimination of toxins). 6. Activated charcoal — only if a doctor or poison center advises it.
The prognosis is good with adequate rehydration; mortality <0.5%.
Prevention — the golden rule of brittlegill foraging: acrid, burning-hot brittlegills — DO NOT EAT. The tongue test (a tiny 1-2 mm piece from the gill edge, 30 sec, spit it out) saves you from this poisoning.
If you suspect poisoning, call an ambulance immediately: 112 (the European emergency number) or your local emergency number
The short answer
Hintapink and Sickener look alike, so they're easy to mix up — but Hintapink is edible, while Sickener is poisonous. The main visible difference: use: Hintapink — cook fresh, pickling, salting, drying, Sickener — not eaten. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: size, cap color, taste. If you have even the slightest doubt, leave the mushroom be.
Sickener
Russula emetica
Hintapink
Russula paludosa
📊 Comparing characteristics
⚠ Highlighted rows are the key differences between the edible and the dangerous mushroom
| Characteristic | Sickener | Hintapink |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠ Edibility class | Sickener Poisonous | Hintapink Edible |
| Season | Sickener SummerAutumn | Hintapink SummerAutumn |
| ⚠ Use | Sickener Not eaten | Hintapink Cook freshPicklingSaltingDrying |
| ⚠ Size | Sickener Small (up to 5 cm) | Hintapink Medium (5–15 cm) |
| ⚠ Cap color | Sickener Red | Hintapink RedOrange |
| Cap shape | Sickener Convex | Hintapink Convex |
| Cap surface | Sickener Slimy | Hintapink Slimy |
| ⚠ Taste | Sickener Acrid | Hintapink Mild |
| ⚠ Smell | Sickener PleasantOdorless | Hintapink Pleasant |
| ⚠ Flesh color change | Sickener No change | Hintapink Yellowing |
| Hymenophore | Sickener Gilled | Hintapink Gilled |
| Stem | Sickener Central | Hintapink Central |
| Ring (veil) | Sickener No ring | Hintapink No ring |
| Volva | Sickener No volva | Hintapink No volva |
| Substrate | Sickener SoilMoss | Hintapink SoilMoss |
| Nutrition type | Sickener Mycorrhizal | Hintapink Mycorrhizal |
| Partner trees | Sickener PineSpruce | Hintapink PineSpruce |
📅 Seasonality
Sickener
Fruiting season
July – October
Hintapink
Fruiting season
July – October
🔬 Morphology
Cap
Sickener
Cap 3-10 cm across, when young hemispherical, with age becoming flat and spread out with a slightly depressed center. The skin is smooth and shiny, distinctly slimy in wet weather, dry and matte in dry weather. The skin peels off EASILY, COMPLETELY, all the way to the center — a diagnostic feature. Color: bright red, blood-red, raspberry-red, deeper in the center; mature caps fade to pink with pale blotches. In mature specimens the margin has fine radial grooves.
Hintapink
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.
Hymenophore
Sickener
Gilled hymenophore — the gills are attached or free from the stem, crowded, thin, fleshy. Color: white to creamy white, cream with age. Spore print white — a diagnostic feature.
Hintapink
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).
Stem
Sickener
Stem 4-8 cm tall, 1-2.5 cm thick, firm, fleshy, cylindrical, hollow inside in old specimens. Color: pure white, often with a faint pinkish tint toward the base. Surface smooth with fine lengthwise wrinkles. No ring.
Hintapink
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.
Flesh
Sickener
Flesh firm, brittle, white, does not change color when cut. Smell faintly fruity-coconut in young specimens, faintly unpleasant in mature ones, taste distinctly burning, acrid and bitter: a tiny piece (1-2 mm) on the tongue causes a strong burning sensation within 5-10 seconds — this is a diagnostic test that saves you from poisoning. Spit it out right away; do not swallow.
Hintapink
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).
Smell
Sickener
Faintly fruity-coconut in young specimens; in mature ones neutral or slightly unpleasant.
Hintapink
A distinct, pleasant fruity-apple smell, especially in young specimens. No unpleasant notes.
📍 Habitats
Sickener
Hintapink
👀 Similar mushrooms — don't mix them up!
❓ Frequently asked questions
Can Hintapink and Sickener be mixed up?
How to tell Hintapink from Sickener?
Which is more dangerous — Hintapink or Sickener?
Is Sickener edible?
When do Hintapink and Sickener grow?
Sources
- [1]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [2]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [3]MycoBank Database
- [4]Index Fungorum
- [5]GBIF
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine