| Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Lactarius > Lactarius gerardii |
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Lactarius gerardii [ Basidiomycetes > Russulales > Russulaceae > Lactarius . . . ] by Michael Kuo Brown species of Lactarius are often frustratingly difficult to identify, but Lactarius gerardii is fairly easily distinguished by its distant white gills, which run down the stem; its white, unchanging milk; its white spore print; its "failure" to stain or bruise; and its mild or merely slightly acrid taste. It has a rugged, yellowish brown cap that is often described as "velvety," but in my experience the texture of the mature cap and stem might be better described as "waxy." Lactarius gerardii is edible. Description: Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods (especially oaks); also reported under conifers; growing alone or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed east of the Great Plains, extending at least as far south as Costa Rica. Cap: 3-10.5 cm; convex with a small point in the middle, becoming flat or with an uplifted margin, with the central point often disappearing; dry; velvety or finely velvety (waxy to the touch at maturity); often with a rugged and wrinkled surface; yellow-brown; the margin sometimes becoming scalloped, like ravioli. Gills: Running down the stem; quite distant; stark white. Stem: 3-8 cm long; 1-2.5 cm thick; more or less equal; dry; without pot holes; textured and colored like the cap; sometimes with a white apex, or sometimes with the gills running into the brown coloration; becoming hollow. Flesh: White; thin. Milk: White; unchanging on exposure to air; not staining tissues. Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive; taste mild or slightly acrid. Chemical Reactions: Cap surface negative with KOH; flesh yellowish with KOH. Spore Print: White. Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10 x 7.5-9 µ; round or nearly so; ornamentation with prominences 0.5-1 µ high; connecting lines usually forming partial or complete reticula. REFERENCES: Peck, 1873, (Saccardo, 1887; Coker, 1918; Hesler & Smith, 1979; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Roody, 2003; McNeil, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 08050305, 07230406, 07160705. Lactarius gerardii var. fagicola differs in its brown-staining gills and flesh; it is recorded under beech in Michigan and Tennessee. Lactarius gerardii var. subrubescens stains reddish, and has shorter spore ornamentation; it is recorded from Maine to Costa Rica. Further Online Information: Lactarius gerardii in Hesler & Smith (1979) |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2004, August). Lactarius gerardii. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/lactarius_gerardii.html |