SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: Yellow-Staining Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 4 in. wide; convex to broadly convex, becoming nearly flat; margin incurved at first; buff, cinnamon pink, cinnamon, vinaceous brown in age; surface viscid, bald, faintly zoned, or with water spots
FLESH: White to pinkish, staining yellow when exposed; fairly thick; odor not distinctive; taste acrid
GILLS: Whitish to pinkish buff, with pinkish to brownish stains, becoming reddish to reddish brown in age; attached to the stem or subdecurrent; close; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White on exposure, quickly becoming bright yellow; taste very acrid
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; whitish to pinkish buff with reddish-brown stains; generally equal or slightly enlarged downward; becoming hollow; base with whitish to brown hairs; surface dry, rather smooth, bald
SPORE PRINT: White to pale yellow
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with pines; scattered to gregarious in humus and moss in conifer or mixed woods, often under white pine; summer and fall; common
EDIBILITY: Not edible; acrid
COMMENTS: This species can often be found in large numbers in pine plantations. It often fruits late in the season. Compare with Lactarius chrysorrheus (p. 38), which also has latex that quickly turns yellow. It lacks the overall reddish-brown staining and is usually associated with oaks.
Lactarius vinaceorufescens
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactifluus piperatus (L.) Roussel
SYNONYM: Lactarius piperatus (L.) Pers.
COMMON NAME: Peppery Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 5-1/2 in. wide; white to creamy white, at times with tan stains in age; convex to flat, becoming depressed in the center to vase shaped; surface dry, bald, not zoned, at times finely wrinkled
FLESH: White, sometimes with yellowish tinges; very firm; odor not distinctive; taste very acrid
GILLS: White to cream, at times with yellowish areas; attached to subdecurrent; very crowded; forking; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White, slowly yellowish on exposure; not staining tissues or at times staining the gills yellowish; copious; very acrid
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; white; firm, solid; equal or tapering slightly downward; surface bald, dry
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks and other broadleaf trees; scattered to gregarious in humus, grass, and moss; summer and fall; common
EDIBILITY: Not edible; acrid
COMMENTS: Compare with Lactifluus deceptivus (p. 41), which has a pseudo veil, and Lactifluus subvellereus var. subdistans (p. 42), which has subdistant gills. Lactifluus glaucescens (not illustrated) is nearly identical. It differs in having latex that dries greenish.
Lactifluus piperatus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactifluus deceptivus (Peck) Kuntze
SYNONYM: Lactarius deceptivus Peck
COMMON NAME: Deceptive Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 9 in. wide; white; convex with a broadly depressed center; surface bald, velvety, in age with brown scales, sometimes forming from the center outward; margin enrolled, covering the gills at first and remaining as a stretchy tissue layer at the extreme margin
FLESH: White; thick; firm; coarse; staining brown; odor not distinctive, becoming pungent in age; taste very acrid
GILLS: White or cream, becoming tan in age; attached to subdecurrent; close to subdistant; edges even; forking at times; no true partial veil, but covered when young by a membranous pseudo veil that is not attached to the stem
LATEX: White, unchanging, staining the flesh and gills brown; copious; acrid taste
STEM: Up to 4 in. long; white with brown stains in age; equal or tapering downward; surface dry, velvety, or bald, at times becoming scaly in age
SPORE PRINT: White to pale yellowish buff
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oak and hemlock; single, scattered, or gregarious in humus or moss in broadleaf and conifer forests; summer and fall; common
EDIBILITY: Not recommended; acrid
COMMENTS: At times this large, white mushroom is one of the most prominent mushrooms in the woods. Two common, white, milk mushrooms with acrid latex, Lactifluus piperatus (p. 40) and Lactifluus subvellereus (p. 42) lack the marginal pseudo veil. Russula brevipes (p. 34) has a very similar appearance but lacks latex.
Lactifluus deceptivus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactifluus subvellereus (Peck) Nuytinck
SYNONYM: Lactarius subvellereus var. subdistans Hesler and A. H. Sm.
COMMON NAME: Fleecy Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 6 in. wide; white with yellowish or grayish areas; convex with a depressed center, at times becoming funnel shaped; surface dry, velvety to slightly wooly, at times with minute cracks; margin enrolled at first, not cottony but may be floccose in age
FLESH: White, changing to yellowish
