confirm russula identity

hi,

i spread some king stropharia spawn among layers of cardboard, wood chips, and paper a month or two ago, and recently I have been seeing red mushrooms in the area (some directly in the sown area and others a little further away in forest litter).

these seem more red than i was expecting from wine caps. in most photos they seem to be burgundy. these are quite red, and certainly they are brittlegills/russula.of some sort-- but i am uncertain if they are the wine caps!

please see attached photo for example

Hi Eon, It does ring a number of Rus. Sp. bells.  
Are you able to get a picture of the underside?
Do the gills attach directly to the stipe or is there a gap?
It the top 'slimey' or rough?
If you crush a piece does it stain black, brown, or yellow?

No rusellas taste good, and some induce instant vomiting.
here's a taxonomic link;
http://www.svims.ca/council/Russul.htm

That certainly is a member of the Russula emetica  group, here is a link to a wikipedia article about the Emetic Russula (aka "The Sickener") and the other members of this group:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula_emetica

Chris is right, you don't want to eat this mushroom, although there are a few edible members in the Russula genus.

Winecaps are a darker burgundy color and their gills are grayish brown.

Here's a video on Wine Cap identification by the folks at Field & Forest:



By the way, these guys have lots of other great videos on mushroom growing.

Russulas don't have rings and their gills will stay white they won't darken with age. those two things will let you see easily if it is a russula or a winecap.

I disagree with Chris on the no russulars taste good, some taste very good However a very general rule is that if it is red it is not a good russula to try.