tre, funnel-shaped, marked in the adult plant with
rings or rust-colored zones. Color of the cap dull orange, turning
paler, and grayish or greenish yellow when old or dried; margin at first
turned inwards; flesh whitish or tinged with yellow; gills decurrent,
crowded rather thick, sometimes slightly forked at the base, pale
yellow, sometimes a saffron yellow, exuding when bruised a saffron-red
or orange-colored liquid, hence the popular name of "Orange Milk
Mushroom;" stem smooth, somewhat spotted, stout, stuffed with a
yellowish pith, eventually becoming hollow; color about the same as that
of the cap. Spores subglobose, yellowish. Taste mild or very slightly
acrid when raw.

Mycophagists generally concur in the opinion that it is of very pleasant
flavor when cooked, and some speak very enthusiastically of its esculent
qualities.

Over-cooking is apt to make it tough. I find steaming in the oven with
butter, pepper, and salt, and a very small quantity of water, as oysters
are steamed, a very good method of preserving the juices and flavor.

It is found in Maryland, under the pines and sometimes in mossy and
swampy places. Prof. Underwood, President of the New York Mycological
Club, reports it as fairly abundant in Connecticut.

Lactarius _volemus_ Fries, the "Orange-Brown Lactar," somewhat resembles
the L. _deliciosus_ in shape and size, but the cap is dry and glabrous
and the skin is apt to crack in patches in somewhat the same manner as
does that of the Russula _virescens_. It is a warm orange-brown in
color, varying slightly with age, and is not zoned. The gills are white
or yellowish and crowded, adnate in the young specimens, and decurrent
in the mature, exuding a white milk when bruised. The spores are
globose, and white. It is found in open woods. The flavor is much like
that of L. _deliciosus_, although perhaps not so rich.

One author states it as his experience that the Lactars which have
_bright_-colored milk, unchanging, are usually edible and have a mild
taste. L. _indigo_ Schwein has been recorded as less abundant than some
other species, but edible. The plant is a deep blue throughout, the milk
of the same color and unchanging. The taste of both flesh and milk is
mild. Specimens of this species were sent to me from western New York
several years ago by a correspondent who found it growing in quantities
in a corn field. He had cooked several dishes of it, and reported its
flavor as very agreeable.