Lactarius pyrogalus

Taxobox | name = "Lactarius pyrogalus"


image_width =
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
class = Homobasidiomycetes
ordo = Russulales
familia = Russulaceae
genus = "Lactarius"
species = "L. pyrogalus"
binomial = "Lactarius pyrogalus"
binomial_authority = (Bull. ex Fr.)mycomorphbox
name = Lactarius pyrogalus
whichGills = decurrent
capShape = flat
hymeniumType=gills
stipeCharacter=bare
ecologicalType=mycorrhizal
sporePrintColor=ochre
howEdible=inedible

"Lactarius pyrogalus", commonly known as the fire-milk Lactarius, is a species of inedible mushroom in genus "Lactarius". It is greyish in colour and differentiated from other grey "Lactarius" by its widely-spaced, yellow gills. It is found on the floor in mixed woodland, especially at the base of hazel trees.

Taxonomy

"Lactarius pyrogalus" was first described by French mycologist Pierre Bulliard as "Agaricus pyrogalus" in 1792, before being given its current binomial name by Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1838. Its specific epithet is derived from the Ancient Greek roots "pyro-" "fire" and "gala" "milk".cite book | author = Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott | year = 1980 | title = A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition) | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = United Kingdom | isbn =0-19-910207-4]

Description

"Lactarius pyrogalus" has a cap 5-10 cm (2-4 in) across which is grey-fawn, sometimes with a yellowish tinge,cite book |title= Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe|last= Phillips|first= Roger|year= 1981|publisher= Pan Books|location= London|isbn= 0330264419|pages= p. 85] with pink and purple tinges not unknown.cite book |title= Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=5HGMPEiy4ykC&pg=PA100&dq=Lactarius+pyrogalus&lr=lang_en&as_brr=3&sig=ACfU3U3eGWZJ5oY-p4NfHVKBWxYtjynYWg|accessdate= 2008-07-31|last= Roody|first= William C.|year= 2003|publisher= University Press of Kentucky|location= Kentucky|isbn= 9780813190396|pages= 100] It is flattened-convex to flat, later becoming funnel-shaped. The cap is sometimes faintly concentrically banded, it is thin-fleshed and becomes sticky when moist, but is not shiny.cite book |title= Mushrooms and Toadstools|last= Pegler|first= David N.|year= 1983|publisher= Mitchell Beazley Publishing|location= London|isbn= 0855335009|pages= 78] The stem is between 4 and 6cm, and between 7 and 15mm thick, generally cylindrical but sometimes slightly swollen at the base. The stem is whitish or concolourous with the cap, with whitish flesh. It has slightly decurrent gills, which are yellow to flesh-coloured, though later become a cinnamon-ochre colour. The well-spaced, yellow gills differentiate it from other greyish "Lactarius" species.

pores

"Lactarius pyrogalus" produces a light ochre spore print; the spores are broadly elliptic, with warts generally joined by a moderately thick ridges in a well-developed network. The spores are 7-8 by 5.5-7 micrometres in size. The spores are amyloid, meaning they stain dark blue in Melzer's reagent, and feature an incomplete net.

Distribution

"Lactarius pyrogalus" is fairly common and is generally found at the base of hazel trees alone or in scattered groups. [cite book |title= The Encyclopedia of Fungi of Britain and Europe|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=ULhwByKCyEwC&pg=PA306&dq=Lactarius+pyrogalus&lr=lang_en&as_brr=3&sig=ACfU3U2Zxym67Mqmhx4l5qunPnWNuaur5A|accessdate= 2008-07-31|last= Jordan|first= Michael|year= 2004|publisher= Frances Lincoln|location= London|isbn= 9780711223783|pages= 306] It is particularly common in hazel woodland managed for coppice. [cite book |title= Complete British Wildlife|last= Sterry|first= Paul|year= 1997|publisher= HarperCollins|isbn= 9780583336383|pages= 352] It can also be found elsewhere on the ground in mixed woodland. It is found in the Autumn months of August-October.

Edibility

"Lactarius pyrogalus" has a very hot, acrid taste and is acidic. It is due to this taste that it received both its English name, fire-milk Lactarius, and its scientific name, with "pyrogalus" translating as "fire milk". Despite not being poisonous, it is not regarded as edible and should be avoided. This is unlike its relative, the saffron milk-cap ("L. deliciosus"), which is regarded as a choice mushroom. [Phillips, 80.]

References