APPENDIX XI 741 



margin naked, at first involute, unfolding as the plant becomes infundibuliform; 

 flesh soft, pallid; gills crowded, narrow, often branched, yellowish-orange; stem 

 equal or attenuated at the base, stuffed, then hollow, of the same color as the cap 

 except that it is paler and sometimes has dark spots. 



Cap 2 to 5 inches broad; stem i to 2 inches long, i inch thick. 



This fungus is distinctive, on account of its orange color and the concentric zones 

 of light and dark orange on the cap and because of the saffron red or orange milk. 

 A peculiarity of the plant is that it turns green upon bruising and in age changes from 

 the original color to greenish. Lactarius deliciosus is widely distributed and of com- 

 mon occurrence, appearing on the ground in woods, solitary or in patches, from June 

 or July to October. As the name indicates, it is considered a delicious species, and 

 that it has a preeminent claim to the name is unchallenged. Even by the ancients 

 it was considered "food for the gods." 



Lactarius fumosus (Suspicious) 



Cap convex, plane or slightly depressed, snuff brown or coffee-colored, dry gla- 

 brous or pruinose, very smooth, margin entire or sometimes wavy; flesh white, 

 changing to reddish when wounded; gills subdistant, adnate, or slightly decurrent, 

 white then yellow, becoming pinkish or salmon where bruised; stem nearly equal or 

 slightly tapering downward, stuffed, then hollow, colored like the cap. 



Cap 2 to 3 inches broad; stem i^ to 2,1/^ inches long, about 6 lines thick. 



This species varies considerably in size, color, and closeness of the gills. The 

 distinguishing features for field identification are the coffee-colored cap and the 

 changeable color of the flesh and gills. Its use should be strictly avoided, as it 

 closely resembles Lactarius fidiginosus, a poisonous species. These two species, 

 L. fumosus and L. fuUginosus, are sometimes considered identical. 1 



Lactarius indigo (Edible) 



Cap at first umbilicate and the margin involute, later cap depressed or infundibuli- 

 form and margin elevated, indigo blue with a silvery-gray luster, zonate, fading in 

 age, becoming greenish and less distinctly zoned, milk abundant and dark blue; 

 gills crowded, indigo blue, changing to greenish in age; stem short, nearly equal, 

 hollow. 



Cap 2 to 5 inches broad; stem i to 2 inches long. 



Lactarius indigo is easily recognized by its striking blue color. It occurs in mixed 

 Qr coniferous woods in summer and autumn. Though not particularly abundant, 

 several plants are generally found in fairly close range of one another. 



Lactarius piperatus. Pepper Cap (Edible) 



Cap fleshy, thick, convex, umbilicate, when mature funnel-shaped, even, smooth, 

 zoneless, margin involute when young; flesh white; gills narrow, crowded, edge 



1 BURLINGHAM, GERTRUDE S. : Study of the Lactari« of the United States. 

 Memoirs, Torr. Bot. Club, Vol. 14, No. i, p. 84, 1908. 



