Lactarius deliciosus

Taxobox | name = "Lactarius deliciosus"

---

image_width = 240px
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
class = Homobasidiomycetes
ordo = Russulales
familia = Russulaceae
genus = "Lactarius"
species = "L. deliciosus"
binomial = "Lactarius deliciosus"
binomial_authority = (L. ex Fr.) S.F.Graymycomorphbox
name = Lactarius deliciosus
whichGills = decurrent
capShape = depressed
hymeniumType=gills
stipeCharacter=bare
ecologicalType=mycorrhizal
sporePrintColor=tan
howEdible=choice

"Lactarius deliciosus", known as the Saffron milk cap, Red pine mushroom is the one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus "Lactarius" in the order Russulales. It is found in Europe and North America and has been accidentally introduced to other countries under conifers and can be found growing in pine plantations.

In the Girona area, this type of mushroom is called a "pinatell" because it is collected near wild pine trees; they are typically harvested in October following the late August rain. Due to its scarcity it commands high prices.

A fresco in the Roman town of Herculaneum appears to depict "Lactarius deliciosus" and is one of the earliest pieces of art to illustrate a fungus.cite book | author = Ramsbottom J | year = 1953 | title = Mushrooms & Toadstools | publisher = Collins | id = ISBN ]

When grown in liquid culture, the mycelium of this fungus produces Anofinic acid, chroman-4-one, 3-hydroxyacetylindole, cyclic dipeptides, ergosterol, and a mixture of fatty acids. [http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=4177402]

Taxonomy

This was known to Linnaeus who officially described it in Volume Two of his "Species Plantarum" in 1753, giving it the name "Agaricus deliciosus", [la icon cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=C | authorlink=Carolus Linnaeus | title=Species Plantarum: Tomus II | publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). | date=1753| pages=p. 1172] the specific epithet deriving from Latin "deliciosus" meaning "tasty". [cite book | last = Simpson | first = D.P. | title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd. | date= 1979 | edition = 5 | location = London | pages = 883 | id = ISBN 0-304-52257-0] The Swedish taxonomist allegedly gave the species its epithet after smelling it and presuming it tasted as good as a Mediterranean milk cap highly regarded for its flavor. [Wasson RG. (1968). "Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality". Harcourt Brace Jovanovick, Inc. ISBN 0-15-683800-1 p. 185] Dutch mycologist Christian Hendrik Persoon added the varietal epithet "lactifluus" in 1801, before English mycologist Samuel Frederick Gray placed it in its current genus "Lactarius" in 1821 in his "The Natural Arrangement of British Plants". [cite book | last=Gray | first=SF | title=The Natural Arrangement of British Plants | publisher=|location=London | date=1821| pages=p. 624]

It is commonly known as saffron milk-cap, red pine mushroom, or simply pine mushroom in English. Its Catalan name is "Rovelló" or "Rovellons". An alternate North American name is orange latex milky. [cite book |title=Common Edible & Poisonous Mushrooms of the Northeast |last=Fergus |first=C. Leonard & Charles |year=2003 |publisher=Stackpole Books |location=Mechanicsburg, PA |isbn=0-8117-2641-X |pages=p. 30-31] Both this and "Lactarius deterrimus" are known as Çam melkisi or Çintar in Turkey.cite journal |author=Solak MH, Iṣiloğlu M, Gücin F, Gökler I |year=1999|title=Macrofungi of Izmir Province |journal=Tr. J. of Botany |volume=23|pages=383–90 |url=http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/botany/issues/bot-99-23-6/bot-23-6-5-98025.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=2008-02-16] cite journal |author=Gezer K |year=2000|title=Contributions to the Macrofungi Flora of Antalya Province |journal=Tr. J. of Botany |volume=24|pages=293–98 url=http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/botany/issues/bot-00–24–5/bot-24–5-6–97069.pdf|format=PDF|accessdate=2008-02-16]

Description

"Lactarius deliciosus" has a carrot orange cap which is convex to vase shaped, inrolled when young, 4 to 14 cm across, often with darker orange lines in the form of concentric circles. The cap is sticky and viscid when wet, but is often dry. It has crowded decurrent gills and a squat orange stipe which is often hollow, 3 to 8 cm long and 1 to 2 cm thick. This mushroom stains a deep green color when handled. When fresh, the mushroom exudes an orange-red latex or "milk" that does not change color.

This mushroom is often confused with "Lactarius rubidus" which stains green, has red latex, and is also edible.

Distribution and habitat

"Lactarius deliciosus" grows under the acidic soil of conifers and forms a mycorrhizal relationship with its host tree. It is native to the southern Pyrenees where it grows under Mediterranean pines. Both this fungus and "L. deterrimus" are collected and sold in the İzmir Province of southwestern Turkey, and the Antalya Province of the south coast.

It can also be found in woodlands in North America as well as having been introduced to Chile, Australia and New Zealand, where it grows in "Pinus radiata" plantations. Many people of Italian, Polish, Ukrainian and other eastern European ancestry in the states of Victoria and New South Wales, Australia travel to collect these mushrooms after autumn rainfall around Easter time.

Edibility

"Lactarius deliciosus" is a widely collected mushroom in the Southern Pyrenees and Majorca and used in Catalan cuisine.cite book |last=MacMiadhacháin |first=A |title=Spanish Regional Cookery |year=1976 |publisher=Penguin|pages = 198-199 |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-046-230-9] One recipe recommends they should be lightly washed, fried whole cap down in olive oil with a small amount of garlic and served drenched in raw olive oil and parsley. The same recipe advised that butter should never be used when cooking this mushroom.

Further north and east it is a feature of Provençal cuisine. [cite book |last=Olney |first=Richard |title= A Provencal Table|year=1995 |pages=31-32|publisher=Pavilion |location=London |isbn=1-85793-632-9]

References

External links

* [http://www.firesifestes.com/Fires/F-Bolets-Capellades.htm Site showing the mushrooms and their natural habitat]
* [http://www.mushroomexpert.com/lactarius_deliciosus.html Mushroom Expert - Lactarius deliciosus]