Russula compacta Frost. Firm Russula Cap 3-18cm across, convex with center flattened or depressed, margin smooth; whitish cream at first, soon turning yellow-orange to ochre with age or on bruising, finally completely rust brown; surface dry, dull, and can be scurfy-granular at center, often cracking; smooth and viscid when wet. Gills adnate, fairly crowded; white to pale cream-yellow, bruising rust-brown. Stem 20-100 x 12-30mm, becoming hollow, even; concolorous with cap but usually discolors less. Flesh very firm, brittle; white, flushing yellow with age or where eaten by insects. Odor strong, fishy, and unpleasant. Taste a little unpleasant. Spores broadly ovate, 7.5-9(9.9)x(5.5)6.3-7(8.6)µ; with blunt, conic warts up to 1.2µ high, usually isolated but with some faint connectives forming an incomplete network. Deposit white (A-B). Habitat in mixed woodlands. Common. Found in eastern North America, west to Michigan. Season August-September. Edible but rather poor. (Never eat any mushroom until you are certain it is edible as many are poisonous and some are deadly poisonous.) Comment This very firm, large russula is easily distinguished by the increasingly unpleasant odor and the color change. The superficially similar Russula nigricans (below) lacks the odor and finally turns black.