A western North American milk cap of Douglas-fir and pine forests, brownish orange with faint zones. Its very scant latex is red to purplish red, and all parts bruise dirty green. It belongs to the Lactarius deliciosus group.
Edible, but its grainy texture makes it of little interest. Check for the red to purplish-red latex and the green staining. Other L. deliciosus-group species with orange latex are also eaten. Milk caps with white, acrid latex are a different group and should not be eaten as substitutes.
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Habitat
Mycorrhizal with Douglas-fir and pines; alone or in groups on the ground. Fruits in summer and fall in the Rocky Mountains and in fall and winter along the West Coast.
Distribution
Western North America, from the Rocky Mountains westward.
Characteristics
Cap: 4-14 cm, convex with an inrolled margin, becoming centrally depressed or shallowly vase-shaped; sticky when fresh, bald, finely rugged; brownish orange with slightly paler zones; staining dirty green. Gills: decurrent, close, pale dirty orangish becoming orange, staining dirty green. Stem: 2-6 cm long, 1-2.5 cm thick, tapering downward, bald, dry, dull orangish, without potholes, staining green. Flesh: whitish, fairly firm, staining pink to purplish when cut. Latex: very scant, red to purplish red, staining surfaces red. Taste: slightly acrid or not distinctive. Odor: not distinctive. Spore print: pale yellow to beige. Spores: 8-10 x 5.5-6.5 µm, ellipsoid, with amyloid warts and ridges forming partial reticula.
