Greetings All,
Found myself with ten minutes of spare time on me hands and spent it preparing a tentative answer, copied it with a view to pasting and posting it here, deleted the draft version and have since found that I lost it all, so am calmly starting from scratch.
My gut feeling is that we’re talking Russula here. This gut reaction is due to Clive’s sudden interest in the topic and is not what I would instinctively go for, but as a working hypothesis, here goes. Can’t remember offhand whether there are thousands or just hundreds of Russula species, but most of ‘em are hard to identify, which is why for example, when you’ve found a red Russula and are pretty sure it’s a R. emetica, the odds are it ain’t. There are around 130 Russulas with a red cap (pileus), and of those, 80-odd have a red cap and a white stem.
So, as no mention was made of the colour of the cap, this would be my first request, as it would also be, in principle, the most identifiable part of the “bicho”. (Believe that and you’ll believe anything!)
Other factors that yours truly would like to know, offhand, are the following:
i. size of cap
ii. colour of stem
iii. exact colour of the gills
iv. does the cap peel?
v. Taste – acrid, bitter, etc.
vi. Reaction of the stem or cap when bruised
vii. Smell – fishy, mouldy, etc.
Or of course it could be an Amanita, as in muscaria or Amanita phalloides (death cap) but the gills on the latter are slightly greenish … usually …
Or as alfredo mentioned a group, or possibly a cluster, how 'bout Laughing Jim - Gymnopilus spectabilis ...
