chrysorrheus (p. 38)
2. Under conifers, with reddish-brown stains: Lactarius vinaceorufescens (p. 39)
Latex not rapidly changing color on exposure
1. Cap whitish; gills very crowded: Lactarius piperatus (p. 40)
2. Cap whitish; gills close to subdistant; covered at first with a pseudo partial veil that does not attach to the stem; mature cap margin slightly stretchy from the remains of the pseudo veil: Lactarius deceptivus (p. 41)
3. Cap whitish; gills subdistant or occasionally close; no pseudo veil; cap margin not stretchy: Lactarius subvellereus var. subdistans (p. 42)
4. Cap bay red to brownish red; dry; not usually zoned; under conifers: Lactarius rufus (p. 44)
5. Cap: orangish brown to brick red; dry; zoned under oaks: Lactarius peckii (p. 43)
6. Cap orange to yellowish; viscid to tacky; latex may slowly turn yellowish: Lactarius croceus (p. 45)
7. Cap gray to pinkish gray; dry; odor of coconut; under conifers: Lactarius hibbardiae (p. 46)
8. Cap gray to olive gray or olive buff; dry; under broadleaf trees, especially beech; odor not of coconut: Lactarius cinereus (p. 47)
9. Cap dark olive brown to yellowish brown: Lactarius sordidus (p. 51)
10. Cap buff, white, or yellowish; distinctly zoned: Lactarius psammicola (p. 49)
11. Cap pinkish brown; latex slowly staining tissues greenish: Lactarius allardii (p. 50)
12. Cap white to cream, yellow to ochraceous at the center; latex slowly staining tissues yellow: Lactarius maculatipes (p. 48)
Latex mild, copious, white to cream
1. Cap orange to yellowish; gills distant to subdistant: Lactifluus hygrophoroides (p. 58)
2. Cap orange to yellowish; gills close; fishy odor: Lactifluus volemus (p. 59)
3. Cap brownish to brownish orange; often wrinkled: Lactifluus corrugis (p. 60)
4. Cap whitish; fishy odor: Lactifluus luteolus (p. 62)
5. Cap blackish brown: Lactarius lignyotus (p. 61)
Latex mild to slightly peppery, variously colored
1. Latex red; staining tissues greenish; cap pinkish silver: Lactarius subpurpureus (p. 56)
2. Latex watery or white; cap reddish brown; under broadleaf trees: Lactarius quietus var. incanus (p. 57)
3. Scant blue latex, becoming greenish; blue to silver cap: Lactarius indigo (p. 52)
4. Latex orange to red; not staining tissues green: Lactarius thyinos (p. 53)
5. Latex orange to red; staining gills and flesh green: Lactarius deterrimus (p. 54)
6. Latex orange to red, staining gills greenish; flesh bluish: Lactarius chelidonium (p. 5)
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius chrysorrheus Fr.
SYNONYM: Lactifluus chrysorrheus (Fr.) Kuntze
COMMON NAME: Yellow Drop Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 3-1/2 in. wide; whitish with brownish spots, pinkish buff; yellowish buff, convex to nearly flat, developing a depressed center; surface faintly zonate at times, moist, sub viscid in wet weather
FLESH: Whitish becoming yellow rather quickly when exposed; thin; odor not distinctive; taste acrid
GILLS: Whitish or very pale yellowish; attached or subdecurrent; close; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White, quickly changing to yellow on exposure; not staining the tissues; acrid, often starting mildly acrid and then increasing in intensity; rather copious
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; whitish; generally equal; hollow in age; base hairy at times; surface bald, apex moist to tacky
SPORE PRINT: Buff to yellowish
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks; scattered to gregarious in humus in broadleaf woods; summer and early fall; common
EDIBILITY: Not edible; acrid; gastrointestinal poisonings have occurred with this mushroom
COMMENTS: This mushroom will likely be transferred to the genus Lactifluus in the near future. It is a common component of the summer, oak woods mushroom flora. Compare with Lactarius vinaceorufescens (p. 39), a common species associated with conifers. It has white latex, quickly changing to yellow on exposure, and it develops sordid reddish-brown stains on the cap, gills, and stem.
Lactarius chrysorrheus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius vinaceorufescens A. H. Sm.
