Downy Milk Cap

Appearance

The cap is 2.5–10 cm wide, obtuse to convex, becoming broadly convex with a depressed center. The margin is rolled inward and bearded with coarse white hairs when young. The cap surface is dry and fibrillose except for the center, which is sticky and smooth when fresh, azonate, white to cream, becoming reddish-orange to vinaceous on the disc with age. The gills are attached to slightly decurrent, crowded, seldom forked, whitish to pale yellow with pinkish tinges, slowly staining brownish ochraceous when bruised. The stem is 2–6.5 cm long, 6–13 mm thick, nearly equal or tapered downward, silky, becoming hollow with age, whitish when young, becoming ochraceous from the base up when older, apex usually tinged pinkish, often with a white basal mycelium. The flesh is firm, white; odor faintly like geraniums or sometimes pungent, taste acrid. The latex is white upon exposure, unchanging, not staining tissues, taste acrid. The spore print is cream with a pinkish tint. The edibility of ''Lactarius pubescens'' has been described as unknown or edible.

The spores are 6–8.5 by 5–6.5 µm, elliptic, ornamented with warts and ridges that sometimes form a partial reticulum, prominences up to 1.5 µm high, hyaline , and amyloid. The cap cuticle is a layer of thin-walled hyphae.

Naming

''Lactarius scoticus'' Berk. & Broome is a small morphological mimic of ''L. pubescens'', growing in arctic-alpine birch. ''L. pubescens'' is often mistaken for ''L. torminosus'' which has larger spores .

Distribution

The fruit bodies of ''L. pubescens'' are found scattered or in groups on the ground in wet areas under birch and other hardwoods from August to October. The fungus is common all over temperate Europe and has been reported from eastern North America, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, and western Canada; its frequency of appearance is occasional. It is also found in Greenland, and was reported for the first time in Rome, Italy, in 1997.

Habitat

The fruit bodies of ''L. pubescens'' are found scattered or in groups on the ground in wet areas under birch and other hardwoods from August to October. The fungus is common all over temperate Europe and has been reported from eastern North America, the Pacific Northwest, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, and western Canada; its frequency of appearance is occasional. It is also found in Greenland, and was reported for the first time in Rome, Italy, in 1997.

Uses

Edibility: Ambiguous and controversial. In Russia is consumed after prolonged boiling followed by a marinating process. However it is reported to have caused gastro-intestinal upsets. Therefore, its consumption should not be recommended and this species considered toxic.