![]() ![]() The cap is typically between 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in) broad, and the stem 2 to 8 cm (0.8 to 3 in) tall by 1 to 2.5 cm (0.4 to 1.0 in) thick. The milk, or latex, that oozes when the mushroom tissue is cut or broken-a feature common to all members of the Lactarius genus-is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air. A widely distributed species, it grows naturally in eastern North America, East Asia, and Central America it has also been reported from southern France. Lactarius indigo, commonly known as the indigo milk cap, the indigo (or blue) Lactarius, or the blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae. So lets learn about some fascinating and bizarre looking fungi and mushrooms! Fungi are also used as biological pesticides to control weeds, plant diseases and insect pests. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: usually don't pay much attention to fungi and mushrooms, and yet they are more more wide spread - and much more important - than we give them credit for. Since the 1940s, fungi have been used for the production of antibiotics, and, more recently, various enzymes produced by fungi are used industrially and in detergents. This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms. Lactiferous hyphae prominent reddish brown to brown in KOH. Cheilocystidia inconspicuous clavate to subcylindric to about 30 x 6 µ. Pleuromacrocystidia cylindric-ventricose inconspicuous to about 60 x 8 µ. Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10 x 5.5-7.5 µ broadly ellipsoid to subglobose ornamentation about 0.5 µ high, as amyloid warts and connecting lines that sometimes form partial reticula. Spore Print: Cream.Ĭhemical Reactions: KOH negative or yellowish on cap surface. Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive taste mild to (sometimes) slowly, slightly acrid. Milk: Deep indigo blue becoming dark green on exposure. Stem: 2-8 cm long 1-2.5 cm thick equal or tapering to base sometimes a little off-center slimy at first but soon dry hard hollowing usually with potholes on the surface.įlesh: Whitish, turning indigo blue when cut staining slowly greenish. Gills: Attached to the stem or beginning to run down it close colored like the cap or a little paler becoming nearly yellowish at maturity staining green. Since Lactarius indigo is found in so many diverse ecosystems-from oak-hickory forests to ponderosa pine zones in the southwestern United States to cloud forests in Mexico-and since it demonstrates considerable variability in its appearance, it would not surprise me if a detailed study discovered several distinct species within the current species concept.Įcology: Mycorrhizal with oaks and with pines growing alone, scattered, or gregariously summer and fall fairly widely distributed in North America from the northeast to the southwestern United States, Texas, and Mexico-but apparently absent in the Pacific Northwest, on the West Coast, and in the northern Rocky Mountains.Ĭap: 5-15 cm convex becoming flat or vase-shaped the margin at first inrolled deep to medium blue when fresh grayish or silvery blue when faded sometimes developing brownish areas when old with concentric zones of color, or sometimes evenly colored sticky or slimy when fresh bruising and discoloring deep green, especially with age. ![]() However, the researchers only included two Lactarius indigo specimens (one from West Virginia and one from Belize). Nuytinck and collaborators (2006, 2007b) produced DNA results supporting the separation of Lactarius indigo from other members of section Deliciosi, but results were inconclusive regarding the status of var. indigo, but with a small cap (3-5 cm across), flesh that turns green within a few minutes of exposure, and a pure white spore print. ![]() ![]() diminutivis, from Texas, as similar to var. Hesler and Smith (1979) describe Lactarius indigo var. Only Lactarius chelidonium and Lactarius paradoxus come close in appearance-and they only do so when very young, before they have begun to develop their brown and yellow shades (they also have yellowish and brown milk, respectively). It is a truly beautiful, blue species that exudes dark blue milk when damaged with a knife point. Lactarius indigo (MushroomExpert.Com) Major Groups > Gilled Mushrooms > Pale-Spored > Lactarius > Lactarius indigo ![]()
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