Appalachian Mushrooms. Walter E. Sturgeon
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 when cut; compact; hard; odor not distinctive; taste strongly acrid
GILLS: Whitish, becoming yellowish; attached to subdecurrent; subdistant to distant; often with hyaline droplets; narrow; some forking; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White, slowly changing to yellow on exposure; staining gills brownish to pinkish brown; copious; strongly acrid
STEM: Up to 2 in. long; white with yellowish or brownish areas; equal or tapered downward; solid; surface dry, velvety
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks and possibly other broadleaf trees; single, scattered, or gregarious in lawns, moss, and humus under broad leaf trees in parks and woodlands; summer and early fall; common
EDIBILITY: Not edible; acrid
COMMENTS: The subdistant to distant gills will separate this species from Lactifluus piperatus (p. 40), which has crowded gills, and from Lactifluus deceptivus (p. 41), which has closer gills and a pseudo veil that leaves a cottony margin.
Lactarius subvellereus var. subdistans
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Lactarius peckii Burl.
SYNONYM: None
COMMON NAME: Peck’s Milk Mushroom
FAMILY: Russulaceae
CAP: Up to 4 in. wide; orangish brown to brick red, usually with darker concentric zones; broadly convex with a depressed center; surface dry, bald or slightly roughened, occasionally scaly; margin enrolled at first
FLESH: Pale vinaceous brown, not staining when cut; firm; odor not distinctive; taste strongly acrid
GILLS: Pale cinnamon to reddish brown, darker in age or with dark-brown stains; attached to subdecurrent; close; rather narrow; edges even; no partial veil
LATEX: White on exposure; not staining tissues; copious; strongly acrid
STEM: Up to 2-1/2 in. long; tan or colored like the cap, only paler; equal; becoming hollow in age; surface dry, with a whitish bloom when young
SPORE PRINT: White
ECOLOGY: Mycorrhizal with oaks; scattered to gregarious in soil and litter in broadleaf and mixed woods; summer and early fall; common
EDIBILITY: Not edible; acrid
COMMENTS: Tasting the acrid latex of this species will clearly set it apart from Lactifluus volemus (p.