''Lactarius scoticus'' is a member of the large milk-cap genus ''
Lactarius
''Lactarius'' is a genus of mushroom-producing, ectomycorrhizal fungi, containing several edible species. The species of the genus, commonly known as milk-caps, are characterized by the milky fluid ("latex") they exude when cut or damaged. Like ...
'' in the order
Russulales
The Russulales are an order of the Agaricomycetes, (which include the agaric genera ''Russula'' and '' Lactarius'' and their polyporoid and corticioid relatives). According to the ''Dictionary of the Fungi'' (10th edition, 2008), the order con ...
. It is found in Europe, where it grows in
peat bogs in a
mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...
l association with
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
.
Taxonomy
The species was first described by British mycologists
Miles Joseph Berkeley and
Christopher Edmund Broome in 1879. The
type collection was made near
Aboyne (a village located near the edge of the
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...
) in 1862;
the
type locality is referred to in the
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''scoticus'' (Scotland).
Description
The
cap is initially convex before developing a central depression, sometimes becoming funnel-shaped, and reaches diameters of . The cap surface is smooth overall and dry, but sometimes has small cracks in the center, and an increasingly felt-like texture moving towards the margin, which is usually fringed with 1–2-mm long hairs. The colour is initially pale cream to whitish, later becoming pale pinkish-
buff
Buff or BUFF may refer to:
People
* Buff (surname), a list of people
* Buff (nickname), a list of people
* Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955)
* Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...
to
cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
, with a more yellowish to yellowish-brown centre. The crowded
gills have an
adnate
Adnate may refer to:
* Adnation, in botany, the fusion of two or more whorls of a flower
* Adnate, in mycology, a classification of lamellae (gills)
* Conjoined twins
Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are ...
to
decurrent attachment to the
stipe. Whitish to pale pinkish-buff in colour, they are sometimes forked near the stipe attachment. The stipe measures long by in diameter, and is either cylindrical to slightly club-shaped. It has a smooth to finely felty surface with a light cream to pinkish-buff colour. The
flesh is similar in colour to the outer surfaces; it has an acrid taste and an acidic to fruity odour. The sparse
latex
Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well.
In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...
is white and has an immediately acrid taste.
''Lactarius scoticus'' mushrooms produce a pale cream
spore print.
Spores are
ellipsoid
An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation.
An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...
in shape, measuring on average 6.5–6.9 by 4.9–5.0
μm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
. The spore surface features warts and ridges up to 0.5 μm high that are connected by thin ridges to form an incomplete reticulum. The
basidia (spore-bearing cells) are cylindrical to club-shaped, four-spored, and measure 30–45 by 7–9 μm.
Habitat and distribution
''Lactarius scoticus'' is found in European
peat bogs, where is grows in a
mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant ...
l association with
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
species. Fruiting occurs from July to October.
See also
*
List of ''Lactarius'' species
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q610722
scoticus
Fungi described in 1879
Fungi of Europe
Taxa named by Miles Joseph Berkeley
Taxa named by Christopher Edmund Broome
Fungus species