Key to Gilled Mushrooms KeyThis is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.
Russulales SuborderFlesh without fibers, fracturing with the same sort of break as a piece of chalk
Spore and gill color limited to white, yellow, or ochre
Mycorrhizal: occuring only on the ground, and only when there are trees nearby
No ring or volva on stalk
All fleshy-stemmed mushrooms whose gills exude a latex when cut go here
Lactarius GenusFruiting bodies (especially the gills) exuding a liquid (called a latex) when broken
Stalk (and sometimes even gills) usually concolorous with cap
Dull-colored Lactarius Section
Diagnosis
- Cap brown to light brown or greyish, sometimes with lilac tinges or spotted; often fading to buff; not scrobiculate, often umbonate
Narrow down your identification:
Fragrant Lactarius SubSection- Fruiting body with a smell, either a so-called maple syrup-fenugreek smell, or one resembling the smell of drying latex paint
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Latex clear or white, often scanty
Mundane Brown Lactarius SubSection
