Lactarius indigo
| Lactarius indigo | |
|---|---|
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| The gills of L. indigo | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Russulales |
| Family: | Russulaceae |
| Genus: | Lactarius |
| Species: | L. indigo |
| Binomial name | |
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Lactarius indigo (Schwein.) Fr. (1838) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Agaricus indigo Schwein. (1822) |
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| Lactarius indigo | |
|---|---|
| Mycological characteristics | |
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gills on hymenium |
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cap is depressed |
 
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hymenium is adnate or decurrent |
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stipe is bare |
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spore print is yellow |
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ecology is mycorrhizal |
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edibility: edible |
Agaricus indigo Schwein. (1822)
Lactarius canadensis Winder (1871)
Lactifluus indigo (Schwein.) Kuntze (1891)
hymenium is adnate
Lactarius indigo, commonly known as the indigo milk cap, the indigo (or blue) lactarius, or the blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae. A widely distributed species, it grows naturally in eastern North America, East Asia, and Central America; it has also been reported in southern France. L. indigo grows on the ground in both deciduous and coniferous forests, where it forms mycorrhizal associations with a broad range of trees. The fruit body color ranges from dark blue in fresh specimens to pale blue-gray in older ones. The milk, or latex, that oozes when the mushroom tissue is cut or broken — a feature common to all members of the Lactarius genus — is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air. The cap has a diameter of 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in), and the stem is 2 to 8 cm (0.8 to 3 in) tall and 1 to 2.5 cm (0.4 to 1.0 in) thick. It is an edible mushroom, and is sold in rural markets in China, Guatemala, and Mexico.
Originally described in 1822 as Agaricus indigo by American mycologist Lewis David de Schweinitz, the species was later transferred to the genus Lactarius in 1838 by the Swede Elias Magnus Fries. German botanist Otto Kuntze called it Lactifluus indigo in his 1891 treatise Revisio Generum Plantarum, but the suggested name change was not adopted by others. Hesler and Smith in their 1960 study of North American species of Lactarius defined L. indigo as the type species of subsection Caerulei, a group characterized by blue latex and a sticky, blue cap. In 1979, they revised their opinions on the organization of subdivisions in the genus Lactarius, and instead placed L. indigo in subgenus Lactarius based on the color of latex, and the subsequent color changes observed after exposure to air. As they explained:
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