href="#ulink_cef5cde3-6f59-5659-8882-4cf44029bc9f">49) is similar but has a paler and more distinctly zonate cap and often larger size.
Lactarius croceus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius hibbardiae Peck
SYNONYM: Lactarius mammosus Fr.
COMMON NAME: Coconut Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 3 in. wide; ruddy gray; pinkish brown to dark pinkish gray, paler with age; convex to broadly convex, becoming flat with a depressed center, umbonate at times; surface fibrillose, dry, not striate
FLESH: Whitish, pinkish gray or pinkish brown; odor similar to coconut; taste acrid
GILLS: Cream to pinkish buff, slowly staining brownish where injured; attached to the stem; close to subdistant; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White or watery; rather abundant; acrid
STEM: Up to 3-1/2 in. long; whitish or colored like the cap, at times with brownish areas; equal or tapering downward; becoming hollow; surface dry, pruinose
SPORE PRINT: Pale cream
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with conifers; scattered to gregarious in moss or humus, often with hemlock and white pine; late summer and fall; fairly common
EDIBILITY: Unknown
COMMENTS: This is the only mushroom with a coconut odor that one is likely to encounter in the Appalachians. A much paler mushroom with a similar odor is Lactarius glyciosmus (not illustrated), which to the author’s knowledge has not been found here.
Lactarius hibbardiae
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius cinereus Peck
SYNONYM: Lactarius cinereus var. fagetorum Hesler and A. H. Sm.
COMMON NAME: None
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 2-3/4 in. wide; olive gray to olive buff, with faint violet tinges at times; convex, becoming flat with a depressed center; surface bald or slightly hoary, not zoned, viscid when wet
FLESH: White, unchanging when cut; odor not distinctive; taste acrid
GILLS: White to cream colored, not staining when damaged; attached to subdecurrent; close; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White, unchanging on exposure; acrid; usually fairly abundant
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; colored like the cap or paler; equal becoming enlarged downward; becoming hollow; surface slightly viscid, becoming dry and shiny
SPORE PRINT: Pale yellow
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; scattered to gregarious in humus and moss in broadleaf and mixed woods, usually under beech; summer and early fall; common
EDIBILITY: Unknown
COMMENTS: This is a common mushroom wherever beech is found. The species described here is probably Lactarius cinereus var. fagetorum. It is macroscopically very similar to Lactarius cinereus var. cinereus (not illustrated). Spore measurements are needed to separate the two.
Lactarius cinerus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius maculatipes Burl.
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: None
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 4 in. wide; whitish to cream, yellowish or ochraceous at the center, convex to flat with a depressed center and uplifted margin at maturity; surface viscid, bald, at times with pockmarks, obscurely zoned, most often near the margin
FLESH: White, slowly staining yellow; firm; odor not distinctive; taste slowly acrid
GILLS: Whitish, pinkish buff, becoming yellowish; bruising tan; attached to subdecurrent; close to crowded; narrow; sometimes forked; no partial veil
LATEX: White, slowly becoming yellow on exposure; staining tissues yellow; taste slowly acrid
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; whitish; staining yellow; equal or tapering downward; surface with shallow pits, viscid when fresh
SPORE PRINT: Buff to yellowish
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks; scattered to gregarious in humus or grass in broadleaf woodlands and parks; summer and fall; fairly common
EDIBILITY: Unknown
COMMENTS: The pale viscid cap, acrid latex, and pitted stem are key identification features.
Lactarius maculatipes
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius psammicola A. H. Sm.
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: None
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 6 in. wide; distinctly zoned with yellowish and buff or whitish and buff zones; convex with a central depression; surface bald, viscid; margin arched and enrolled, hairy in Lactarius psammicola var. psammicola
FLESH: Whitish or with pinkish-cinnamon stains; thick; odor not distinctive; taste acrid
GILLS: Whitish, pinkish buff to cinnamon buff, bruising darker; attached to subdecurrent; close; infrequently forking; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White; drying buff; slowly staining tissues pinkish cinnamon; very acrid
STEM: Up to 2 in. long; whitish, discoloring brownish where handled; equal or tapering downward; central or off-center; hard; becoming hollow in age; surface dry, pitted at times
SPORE
