Lactarius salmonicolor    R. Heim & Leclair 

common name(s) : Salmon-Coloured Milk Cap 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Incertae sedis/Russulales/Russulaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Russulales/Russulaceae  

synonyms: Lactarius salmoneus, Lactarius subsalmoneus, Lactarius laeticolor 

edibility : inedible

potential confusions with Lactarius salmonicolor toxicity of Lactarius salmonicolor genus Lactarius  

The cap is pale orange to bright orange. The cap surface is smooth, not viscid nor sticky.

The stem is orange yellow, without ring.

The flesh is pale ochre, turning quickly orange when exposed to air, then slowly vinaceous brown (> 30 mns); its taste is bitter or of resin; the odour is faint, fruity or of soap; its texture is grainy (breaking like a chalk stick), exuding when cut an orange milk.

The gills are orange yellow, salmon pink, decurrent to adnate, crowded . The spore print is cream with salmon tinge to pale ochre (D). This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on a rather calcareous soil, with fir, spruce, Douglas pine.

The fruiting period takes place from July to December.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 10 cm (between 3 and 15 cm)
  height of stem approximately 7 cm (between 1.5 and 13 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 20 mm (between 6 and 30 mm)

Chemical tests : none.

Distinctive features : Orange cap, viscid or sticky; without any trace of green; scarse milk, orange then vinaceous brown after 10 mns, never green; bitter or acrid taste (or of resin); only with fir

Lactarius salmonicolor is still unreported so far in the forest of Rambouillet, and is infrequent, more generally speaking .



page updated on 14/01/18