Russula pelargonia Niolle (1941)  *Sensu Thiers in "Agaricales of California: Russulaceae"     

This is one of the most distinctive Russula species on the basis of its strong and peculiar odor of geranium flowers. I see it frequently in the coastal mixed forests in the Nov/Dec time period. The phylogeny of  the Pacific Northwest material has not been resolved yet, despite the species figuring prominently in field guides and local monographs.  The stem in all my collections has pinkish coloration. The cap starts pale-olive and then turns to a purplish-reddish, variegated appearance.

Young fruitbodies have distinctly paler caps

Spores: thin ridges, up to 0.7µ high, forming a partial to broken reticulum. .