Lilac-staining Milkcap (Lactarius uvidus)

Lactarius uvidus

Deciduous and mixed forests. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies medium-sized. Cap 5-8 (10) cm across, slimy, not zoned (rarely one or two faint zones only near the margins), flattened, slightly depressed, yellowish greyish-brownish. Gills white, quickly turning yellowish, crowded, subdecurrent, when old spotted violet. Stem 5-10x0.5-2 cm, slimy, yellowish, brownish. Flesh white, not bitter, quickly stained violet when cut or broken. The milk is white, soon turning violet when exuded. Characteristic features: fruiting bodies slimy; the milk is white and, once exuded, like the flesh, quickly stains violet, blackish-violet. Grows singly or in small groups in deciduous and mixed, less often coniferous forests; likes the company of birch and goat willow. Edible. Of low value. Very rare.