Lactarius turpis
| Lactarius turpis | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Russulales |
| Family: | Russulaceae |
| Genus: | Lactarius |
| Species: | L. turpis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Lactarius turpis Fr. (1838)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Agaricus turpis | |
| Lactarius turpis mycorrhizal | |
|---|---|
 | Edibility is edible but not recommended |
Lactarius turpis (also L. plumbeus or L. necator)[1] is commonly known as the ugly milk-cap in English. It is found naturally in Europe and Siberia, and has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand. While especially associated with birch, it is also found with spruce,[2] pine and other trees in mixed woodland.[citation needed]
The messy, dirty appearance, seen in the photograph, is characteristic of the species and gives it its English name and the Latin species epithet, turpis. It seems to collect debris on top and the gills acquire a dirty brownish stain due to discoloured milk.
Taxonomy and naming
This very variable mushroom demonstrates a common phenomenon in mycology as there is much disagreement over naming. The three main scientific designations:
- Lactarius turpis Fr.,
- Lactarius necator (Bull.:Fr.) Karsten, and
- Lactarius plumbeus (Bull.:Fr.) S. F. Gray,
are usually,[3] but not always,[4] considered to be synonyms for same species. The epithets necator and plumbeus were both coined by Pierre Bulliard as Agaricus necator (1791) and Agaricus plumbeus (1793), but there is and was confusion as to which mushrooms were meant. The name turpis, derived from the Latin term turpis "ugly",[5] was originated by Johann Anton Weinmann and taken over by Elias Magnus Fries in 1838.[6] Plumbeus too referred to the milk-cap's appearance, derived from the Latin for plumbeus "lead-coloured".
Description
The cap is normally 8–20 cm (3–8 in) in diameter. At first it has an involute margin and a somewhat depressed centre. The upper surface is olive brown or yellow-green and is often sticky or slimy in the middle. When young it has velvety zones and may be shaggy at the rim. Later it becomes funnel-shaped and the colour darkens to blackish. The gills are crowded, dirty white, stained olive-brown by old milk, which is initially white on contact with the air. They are somewhat decurrent. With potassium hydroxide or ammonia there is a purple reaction. The stipe is up to about 7 cm (2+3⁄4 in) tall by 3 cm (1+1⁄4 in) in diameter and it is similar in colour to the cap, but much lighter. It may have shallow pits (scrobiculae). The flesh is a dirty white and tends to turn brown. The taste (especially the abundant milk) is acrid. There is little smell. The spores are about 7x6 µ and are ornamented with a pattern of ridges.[3][6][7][8][9][2]
A similar species in
Edibility
This species is reported to contain the mutagen necatorin (=7-hydroxycoumaro(5,6-c)cinnoline), and so it cannot be recommended for eating. Boiling reduces the concentration of this compound, but does not effectively eliminate it.[10]
Probably due to the acrid taste, most western European authorities classify this mushroom as inedible
See also
References
- ^ See the entry in Index Fungorum Archived 2007-10-31 at the Wayback Machine for the current name and synonyms.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-88192-935-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-340-39935-X.
- ^ Noordeloos Machiel E.; Kuyper Thomas W. (1999). "Notulae ad Floram agaricinam neerlandicam XXXV – On the typification of Lactarius necator". Persoonia. 17 (2).
- ISBN 0-304-52257-0.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 0-330-26441-9.
- ISBN 0-9508486-0-3.
- ISBN 2-603-00953-2., also available in English.
- PMID 6348529.
- ^ See site of YeniseyEcoproduct, Krasnoyarsk
Media related to Lactarius turpis at Wikimedia Commons
