Lactarius indigo, the indigo milk cap, is an ectomycorrhizal milk cap whose cap, gills and stem are indigo blue when fresh; it exudes scant indigo-blue latex that slowly turns green. It occurs mainly in southern and eastern North America, Mexico and Central America, and is sold in rural markets in Mexico, Guatemala and Yunnan, China.
Edible. Opinions on quality vary from 'superior' to 'mediocre'; the texture is coarse and grainy and the taste mild to slightly bitter or peppery. The blue colour turns grayish when cooked, and it does not dry well. Other blue-tinged milk caps (L. paradoxus, L. chelidonium, L. quieticolor) differ in latex or flesh colour.
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Habitat
On the ground, scattered or in groups, in deciduous and coniferous forest; ectomycorrhizal with oaks, pines and other trees (in Mexico also with alder, hornbeam, hophornbeam and Liquidambar). Common in recently flooded floodplains. Fruits summer to autumn (June-September rainy season in Xalapa, Mexico).
Distribution
Southern and eastern North America (most common along the Gulf Coast; occasional to locally common in the Appalachians; with ponderosa pine in Arizona), Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and south to Colombia. Also reported from China and India; in Europe reported only from southern France.
Characteristics
Cap: 4-15 cm, convex becoming depressed to funnel-shaped; indigo blue fading to grayish or silvery blue, often zoned, with greenish stains; sticky when young; margin inrolled at first. Gills: adnate to slightly decurrent, crowded, indigo blue, staining green. Stem: 2-8 cm long, 1-2.5 cm thick, blue, becoming hollow with age. Latex: indigo blue, scant, slowly turning green. Flesh: pallid to bluish, slowly greening. Spore print: cream to yellow. Spores: 7-9 x 5.5-7.5 µm, elliptical to nearly round, with amyloid warts.
