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LACTARIUS<br />
LACTARIUS INDIGO (Schw.) Fr. Edible<br />
Figures 65, 66, page 27<br />
PILEUS 2-5 in. broad, at first convex, slightly umbilicate, becoming plane,<br />
depressed in the center, finally infundibuhform, indigo blue, fading and<br />
becoming paler with a silvery-gray appearance, zoned with concentric darker<br />
blue rings, glabrous, sHghtly viscid, margin at first inrolled, becoming arched<br />
and elevated, flesh blue, becoming greenish in age. latex dark blue, mild.<br />
LAMELLAE adnatc-dccurrcnt, close, moderately broad, blue, becoming greenish<br />
in age. stipe 1-2 in. long, y8-% in. thick, equal, glabrous, concolorous with<br />
pileus or paler, sometimes bluish, spotted, stuffed, becoming hollow, spores<br />
yellowish, broadly eUipsoid to subglobose, 7.5-9.5 X 6-7.5 )u, ornamented<br />
with a nearly complete reticulum of light to heavy bands, and occasional<br />
separate warts.<br />
Grows on the ground in woods. July-Sept.<br />
This species is not common but when found cannot be mistaken for<br />
anything else. No other species has dark-blue latex.<br />
LACTARIUS LIGNYOTUS (Fr. ex Fr.) Fr. Suspected<br />
Figure 63, page 27<br />
PILEUS 1-3 in. broad, convex to plane, sometimes centrally depressed,<br />
usually umbonate, dark chocolate brown or sooty brown, evenly colored, dry,<br />
azonate, pruinose-velvety, the margin even to wavy and sometimes plicate.<br />
FLESH white, slowly becoming pinkish when wounded, latex white, slowly<br />
turning reddish, mild to shghtly acrid, lamellae adnate to decurrent, sub-<br />
distant, broad, white then creamy to yellowish buff, the edges sometimes<br />
brown, stipe 1J4-3J/2 in. long, Ys-Ys in. thick, equal, pHcate at the apex,<br />
pruinose-velvety, concolorous with pileus, stuffed, spores yellowish in mass,<br />
subglobose, 8-10 X 7.5-9 ju, ornamented with high, heavy bands and ridges<br />
forming a nearly complete reticulum.<br />
It grows on the ground, usually in conifer woods, especially in bogs.<br />
July-Oct.<br />
Reports concerning the edibility of this species have varied. Some people<br />
have said it is very good, others that it is poisonous. It should be tried cau-<br />
tiously if at all, and is probably best avoided.<br />
The dark brown, velvety pileus of this fungus is very striking in appear-<br />
ance. The reddish stains develop slowly and are not conspicuous. It might be<br />
confused with L. fuliginosus Fr., which is paler, has a shorter stipe not pHcate<br />
at the apex, and slightly smaller spores. L. gerardii Peck looks similar from<br />
the upper surface but can readily be recognized by its very distant lamellae.<br />
53
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