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 SectionCap brown to light brown or greyish, sometimes with lilac tinges or spotted; often fading to buff; not scrobiculate, often umbonate
Mundane Brown Lactarius SubSection
Diagnosis
Narrow down your identification:
Lactarius fumosusCap up to 4" across; light yellowish brown to various shades of coffee or smoky-colored
Latex white, slowly staining gills pinkish
Spore print pinkish buff
Lactarius gerardiiCap up to 5" across, brown to tan; margin often pleated in maturity
Stem concolorous with cap, except at the top where it becomes white and pleated
Gills distant
Taste acrid (sometimes slowly)
Lactarius maculatusCap up to 7" across; some combination of greyish, brownish and pale lilac; concentrically zonate and spotted, especially near the margin
Stalk concolorous or lighter; scrobiculate
Latex whitish, staining tissues lilac
