286 NEW YOBK STATE MUSEUM 



haps an indication that the specimens should not be kept too 

 long before cooking. Many writers affirm that this fungus is 

 quite as good raw as it is cooked, but to me it often has a slightly 

 acrid or astringent flavor in the raw state. All acknowledge it 

 to be edible. 



Cordier says it is excellent and among the most agreeable 

 edible mushrooms, and that in some countries it is eaten raw as 

 well as cooked. Paulet declares it to be fine and delicate and 

 that it is eaten with delight. Quelet asserts that it is better raw 

 than cooked and that its sweet milk affords an agreeable drink 

 for the botanist in the warm days of summer. Stevenson gives 

 it as edible and delicious. My own experience with it would 

 scarcely lead me to class it as more than an ordinarily good 

 mushroom. Perhaps it might be improved by better cooking 

 than I was able to give to it. I have not eaten it uncooked. 



There are two or three species somewhat similar to the Orange- 

 brown mushroom in color, but none of them are hurtful. We 

 are sometimes cautioned against mistaking the Red lactarius, 

 Lactarius rufus, for it. This is reported by Fries as very pois- 

 onous. I have found this on the high summits of the Catskills 

 and in the cold mossy swamps and woods of the Adirondack 

 region, but never in company with the Orange-brown lactarius. 

 It is easily distinguished by its more red color, its smaller size, 

 and especially by its exceedingly acrid burning taste. No one 

 who had tasted it in the raw state could be induced to swallow 

 the least particle of it. 



Russula i^r. 



The species of Russula are very similar to those of the genus 

 Lactarius in size, shape, structure and texture. The spores also 

 are of the same character. But this genus is at once separated 

 by the absence of any milky or colored juice. The coloration is 

 also peculiar in many of the species, bright or clear red and pur- 

 plish hues prevailing. This character doubtless suggested the 

 name of the genus. No species exhibits the colored circular 

 zones seen on the caps of so many species of Lactarius. The 

 taste of the flesh is very similar in both, in some species it being 

 peppery or acrid, in others mild. 



The following is the only species which I have tried, though 

 several have been recorded as edible. 



