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
Mild White Lactarius Subgenus
Diagnosis
- Cap white to buff, often with a white bloom
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Taste mild (although the smell may be disgusting)
Narrow down your identification:
Lactarius luteolusCap up to 3 1/4" across; white to buff, becoming brownish in age; slightly velvety or canescent
Stalk concolorous; slightly velvety; staining brown
Odor unremarkable when young, becoming fishy and disgusting in age
Latex copious, white; often watery; staining gills brown
