PRINT: Pinkish buff
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks and possibly other broadleaf trees; scattered to gregarious in grass and humus; summer and early fall; fairly common
EDIBILITY: Not edible; acrid
COMMENTS: This rather large mushroom with a zoned cap is most commonly seen under oaks in parks and cemeteries. Two forms are recognized. Lactarius psammicola f. psammicola (not illustrated) has a hairy margin, and Lactarius psammicola f. glaber lacks the hairy margin. The latter form is the most common.
Lactarius psammicola
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactifluus allardii (Coker) De Crop
SYNONYM: Lactarius allardii Coker
COMMON NAME: None
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 6 in. wide; pinkish brown to reddish brown, whitish where covered by leaves; convex with an enrolled margin, becoming flat with a central depression; surface dry, not zoned, bald or, at times, velvety, not striate
FLESH: White, slowly staining pinkish and then greenish when cut; thick; firm; odor not distinctive, becoming pungent in age; taste acrid
GILLS: Whitish, staining green where damaged; attached to subdecurrent; close to subdistant; forked; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White at first, becoming greenish and eventually brown on exposure; copious; taste acrid
STEM: Up to 2 in. long; whitish or tinged the color of the cap; equal or tapering down; surface bald, dry
SPORE PRINT: White to creamy white
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; scattered to gregarious under oak in broadleaf and mixed woodlands; summer and fall; occasional
EDIBILITY: Unknown; not recommended owing to the acrid taste
COMMENTS: Until recently this mushroom was placed in the genus Lactarius. The cap surface resembles that of the very common Russula compacta (p. 24), which lacks latex and has brown-staining gills.
Lactifluus allardii
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius sordidus Peck
SYNONYM: Lactarius turpis (Weinm.) Fr.
COMMON NAME: Sordid Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 5 in. wide; dark yellowish brown, dark olive brown at the center, at times obscurely zoned; convex to broadly convex, becoming flat, depressed in the center; surface moist or dry, viscid when wet, at first with a felt-like surface
FLESH: White with a pinkish hue, or yellowish; firm; odor not distinctive; taste mild at first, becoming very acrid
GILLS: White to yellowish, staining dull brown to olive brown where damaged; attached to subdecurrent; close; narrow to medium broad; some forking; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White to whitish on exposure, not changing, or becoming slightly greenish; staining the gills brown; usually copious; acrid
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; olive or brownish olive, streaked or spotted; surface viscid when wet, with occasional pockmarks; solid becoming hollow
SPORE PRINT: Whitish to cream or pale buff
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal; solitary to scattered in moss or humus in conifer and mixed woodlands; late summer and fall; occasional
EDIBILITY: Not edible; acrid
COMMENTS: Considered a synonym of Lactarius turpis by some investigators, Lactarius sordidus has drab colors that make it easily overlooked. A similar species with a darker greenish-black cap is Lactarius atroviridis (not illustrated). It is found under oaks and in mixed woods. Most would not find any of this milk cap group very attractive.
Lactarius sordidus
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius indigo (Schwein.) Fr.
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: Indigo Milk Cap
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 5 in. wide; blue and silver zones, fading in age to grayish silver with traces of blue, the zones disappearing, at times bruising green; convex to convex depressed, becoming broadly funnel shaped; surface viscid, bald, at times appearing varnished; margin turned under at first
FLESH: Whitish, quickly staining dark blue when exposed; firm; thick; odor not distinctive; taste mild or slightly bitter
GILLS: Indigo blue, dark greenish where damaged, fading to bluish gray and at times with yellowish tints; broadly attached to the stem; crowded; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: Dark blue, slowly becoming dark green on exposure; staining tissues green; rather scant; taste mild or slightly bitter
STEM: Up to 3 in. long; silver gray with bluish tints, often colored like the cap; usually equal or tapering in either direction; solid at first, becoming hollow; surface viscid at first, soon dry, usually with dark-blue spots
SPORE PRINT: Cream
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks and pines; scattered to gregarious in humus and moss; summer and fall; occasional to locally common
EDIBILITY: Edible
COMMENTS: This is perhaps the most distinctive mushroom in the parks and woodlands of Appalachia. Indigo-blue gills and silvery-blue caps combine with sparse, blue latex to make a unique combination.
Lactarius indigo
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius thyinos A. H. Sm.
SYNONYM: Lactarius salmonicolor R. Heim and Leclair
