Lactarius imperceptus

[ Basidiomycetes > Russulales > Russulaceae > Lactarius . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Lactarius imperceptus is a brownish milky cap with white milk that turns yellow when exposed to air . . . in theory. In practice the cap is sometimes rather pinkish, and the yellowing of the milk may be faint (even absent) and/or slow to develop. The cap is never zoned, helping to separate it from species like Lactarius chrysorrheus.

I have no information on the edibility of Lactarius imperceptus; do not experiment.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks (possibly with other hardwoods, possibly with pines); summer and fall; widely distributed east of the Great Plains.

Cap: 3-9 cm; convex, with an incurved margin when young, becoming flat or shallowly depressed, often with a central bump; dry or moist; smooth; dull brown to tan, cinnamon tan, pinkish brown, or paler; consistently without zones of color or texture.

Gills: Attached to the stem or running down it; close; whitish to pinkish or very pale tan; often developing cinnamon to reddish brown stains and discolorations.

Stem: 4-9 cm long; up to about 1.5 cm thick; more or less equal; dry or moist; without potholes; smooth; pale at first, becoming colored like the cap.

Flesh: Thin; pale, becoming pinkish; not changing when sliced or becoming slightly yellowish.

Milk: Creamy; turning slightly to substantially yellowish (often very slowly) or not yellowing appreciably; not staining tissues, or staining them yellowish; staining white paper yellow.

Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive; taste usually acrid.

Spore Print: White to yellowish.

Microscopic Features: Spores 7-9.5 x 6-8 µ; broadly elliptical; ornamentation with prominences up to 1.5 µ high; connecting lines sometimes forming a partial reticulum.

REFERENCES: Beardslee & Birmingham, 1940. (Hesler & Smith, 1979; Phillips, 1991/2005.)

Further Online Information:

Lactarius imperceptus in Hesler & Smith (1979)
Lactarius imperceptus at Roger's Mushrooms

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2007, September). Lactarius imperceptus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/lactarius_imperceptus.html