A slender, velvety, nearly black to dark brown milk cap of conifer forests. The cap is often wrinkled, the stem is colored like the cap with a white base, and the gills contrast white. The white latex and flesh usually stain slowly pinkish. North American material is variable and may include several taxa.
Not recommended. Wikipedia calls it edible but of little interest, but this is a single weak report, MushroomExpert.com gives no edibility information, and the North American complex is not resolved.
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Habitat
Mycorrhizal with conifers, especially spruce and fir, on the ground or occasionally on well-rotted wood; late summer and fall. European material is limited to spruce; North American material occurs with diverse conifers, and Mexican material with oaks.
Distribution
Europe (described from Sweden). In North America, widely distributed in the northeast, west to about Wisconsin. Mexican records associate with oak. North American collections vary more than European ones and need DNA study.
Characteristics
Cap: 2-10 cm, convex with a small central point, becoming flat or shallowly depressed; dry, finely velvety, often rugged or wrinkled; nearly black when young, dark brown to brown with age; margin sometimes ridged. Gills: attached or slightly decurrent, close to nearly distant, white to whitish, developing pinkish to orangish hues in age, occasionally brown-edged; usually staining slowly reddish to pinkish. Stem: 4-12 cm long, up to 1.5 cm thick, equal, dry, colored and textured like the cap except for a whitish base, often ribbed near the apex. Flesh: white, usually slowly pinkish. Latex: white, often drying pinkish, staining white paper brown. Odor and taste: not distinctive. KOH: negative on the cap. Spore print: creamy white to orangish yellow. Spores: 8-10 µm, globose to broadly elliptical, with amyloid spines and ridges 1-2 µm high forming partial reticula.
