Russula virescens – Facesoffungi number: FoF 3145

Russula virescens (Schaeff.) Fr., Anteckningar öfver de i Sverige växande ätliga svampar: 50 (1836)

Facesoffungi number: FoF 3145

Pileus 4–16 cm, when young round to convex, when mature broadly convex to flat to uplifted with a shallow depression, dry, velvety, surface soon cracking up into small patches, green to yellowish-green, margin not lined; the skin peeling towards the center. Lamellae attached to the stem or at maturity nearly free, close or crowded, white to cream. Stipe 2–11 cm long, 2–5 cm thick, dry, smooth, white, brittle, discolouring brownish with age but not with bruising or cutting. Context white, brittle, thick, not changing when sliced. Odour and taste not distinctive, taste mild. Spore print white. Basidiospores 6–9 × 5–7 μm, elliptical to subglobose, warts 0.5 μm high, connectors almost absent, scattered, or creating moderately reticulated areas. Pleurocystidia very few. Pileipellis a cutis overlaid with epithelium-like areas or crustose patches composed of elements of chained cells diminishing in width from base to tip, with the terminal cell projecting an extension that is frequently elongated and tapered. Pileocystidia cylindric with capitate apices, positive with sulphovanillin.

Habit, habitat and distribution: gregariously or solitary, usually mycorrhizal with hardwoods, May to August. Our collection was collected associated with Dipterocarpus sp. at Peradeniya Royal Botanic Gardens.

Specimens examined: SRI LANKA, Kandy District, near Peradeniya Royal Botanic Gardens, 2 June 2012, Samantha C. Karunarathna (MFLU 12-1894, new record). GenBank number ITS:KY649467.

Notes: This has a widespread distribution in Asia, having been recorded from India, Malaysia, Korea, the Philippines, Nepal, China, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is also found in North Africa and Central America. This is the first report of R. virescens with the molecular phylogenetic confirmation from Sri Lanka.