Lactarius pseudomucidus
North American Species of Lactarius: 356. 1979.
Common Name: none
For description see Hesler & Smith & 'California Mushrooms'.
Solitary to gregarious in soil in mixed hardwood-conifer forests; fruiting from fall through winter, common with Douglas fir, western hemlock, and grand fir in northern coastal forests, uncommon in the Sierra Nevada.
Unknown.
Lactarius pseudomucidus can be distinguished by its viscid dark grayish brown cap and stipe, which are often covered by a thick slime in wet weather, white or watery-white unchanging latex that stains the gills brown, an acrid taste, and its growth with conifers in coastal forests in northern California. Lactarius kauffmanii is also slimy-viscid and dark grayish brown, but it differs in forming larger fruitbodies with pale orange gills, a grayish orange scrobiculate stipe, and latex that dries grayish green.
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 959 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Hesler, L.R. & Smith, A.H. (1979). North American Species of Lactarius. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. 841 p. (PDF)
Methven, A.S. (1997). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 10. Russulaceae II. Lactarius. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 79 p.
Methven, A.S. (1998). Lactarius in California and Beyond: Introduction to Subgenera and Species of Lactarius in California. Privately Published: Charleston, IL. 22 p. (PDF)
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
