Another mushroom I can't identify

[eat-bolete]

I thought it might be Cortinarius alboviolaceus, but gills seem to be free, not attached, and flesh and gills aren't really purple at all. Spores seem to be rusty brown, based on the photos, gills white or offwhite, semi-crowded, free...stem bulpous at the bottom, snaps clean like chalk, cap sticky, purplish beige. Found among coniferous trees.

[eat-bolete]

Could be some kind of Russula based on brittle stem, such as R. cyanoxantha or R. fragilis, but spore color seems to be too dark for Russula, doesn't it?

[Dave W]

What do you mean by "spores seem to be rusty brown?" If you have inferred this from the color of the gills, then this may be a mistake. Many mushroom types with colored gills have white or light-colored spores. Actually, I think the yellowish color on the gills seen here may be the result of the mushroom being parasitized by a Hypomyces... fungus growing on a fungus. Are the gills edges kinda hard...as though they are coated with something?

Some Russulas have yellow or orangish spore prints. The mushroom seen here looks like a Russula to me... grainy flesh in the stalk appears the be "snap-able", like a piece of chalk. Russulas are often very difficult to ID to species. Most Russulas have gills attached to the stem, but the gills may break/pull away form the stem... especially if the mushroom is old and beginning to dehydrate.

[eat-bolete]

Dave,

The gills seem to be white or off-white, but unevenly rusty on edges, I assumed (mistakenly it seems) that it is due to spore deposit. Unfortunately I do not possess the mushroom anymore, so can't tell if the gill edges are hard.