Leucosporee 



margin at first involute and clothed with a dense, soft or cottony tomentu m , Lactarius. 

 then spreading or elevated and more or less fibrillose. Gills rather 

 broad, distant or subdistant, adnate or decurrent, some of them forked, 

 whitish, becoming cream-colored. Stem 1-3 in. long, 8-18 lines thick, 

 equal or narrowed downward, solid, pruinose-pubescent, white. Spores 

 white, 9-12. 7/1. Milk white, taste acrid. 



Woods and open places, especially under hemlock trees. Common. 

 July to September. 



Trial of its edible qualities was made without any evil conse- 

 quences. The acridity was destroyed by cooking. Peck, 38th Rep. 

 N. Y. State Bot. 



Alabama, U. and E.; New York, Peck, 38th Rep.; West Virginia, 

 1881-1885, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. Woods and open places. July 

 to October. Mcllvaine. 



In common with all peppery Lactarii the present species loses the 

 quality in cooking. The edible qualities then depend upon texture, 

 substance, flavor. The species is coarse but meaty and of fair flavor. 



L. velle'reus Fr. vellus, fleece. Pileus 2-5 in. broad, compact, at 

 first convex and umbilicate, then expanded and centrally depressed or 

 subinfundibuliform, the whole surface minutely velvety-tomentose , soft to 

 the touch, white or whitish, the margin at first involute, then reflexed. 

 Gills distant or subdistant, adnate or decurrent, sometimes forked, 

 whitish becoming yellowish or cream-colored. Stem .52 in. long, 

 6- 1 6 lines thick, firm, solid, equal or tapering downward, pruinose- 

 pubescent, white. Milk white, taste acrid. Spores white. 



Woods and open places. Common. July to September. Peck, 38th 

 Rep. N. Y. State Bot. 



Spores white, nearly smooth, 7-9^ Peck; 4x8/1 W.G.S. 



West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. Woods and open places. 

 July to October. Mcllvaine. 



Poisonous according to some authors. Cordier. Edible. Leveille. 

 Eaten it for eighteen years. Mcllvaine. 



This common, very acrid species is characterized by the downy 

 covering of its cap. 



It is a coarse species, but meaty. Its acridity is lost in cooking, 

 when it makes a fair dish. 



169 



