Lactarius deliciosus

Lactarius deliciosus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Russulales
Family: Russulaceae
Genus: Lactarius
Species:
L. deliciosus
Binomial name
Lactarius deliciosus
(L. ex Fr.) S.F.Gray (1821)
Synonyms[1]
  • Agaricus deliciosus L. (1753)
  • Galorrheus deliciosus (L.) P.Kumm. (1871)
  • Lactifluus deliciosus (L.) Kuntze (1891)
Lactarius deliciosus
View the Mycomorphbox template that generates the following list
Gills on hymenium
Cap is depressed
Hymenium is decurrent
Stipe is bare
Spore print is tan
Ecology is mycorrhizal
Edibility is choice

Lactarius deliciosus, commonly known as the delicious milk cap,[2] saffron milk cap, or red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus Lactarius in the order Russulales. It is native to Europe, but has been accidentally introduced to other countries along with pine trees, with which the fungus is symbiotic.

Taxonomy

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The species was known to Carl Linnaeus, who officially described it in the second volume of his Species Plantarum in 1753, giving it the name Agaricus deliciosus.[3] The specific epithet is derived from Latin deliciosus, meaning "tasty".[4] The Swedish taxonomist allegedly gave the species its epithet after smelling it and presuming it tasted good, perhaps confusing it with a Mediterranean milk cap regarded for its flavor.[5] Dutch mycologist Christian Hendrik Persoon added the varietal epithet lactifluus in 1801, before English mycologist Samuel Frederick Gray placed it in its current genus, Lactarius, in 1821 in his The Natural Arrangement of British Plants.[6]

It is commonly known as saffron milk-cap, red pine mushroom, or simply pine mushroom in English. An alternative North American name is orange latex milky.[7] Its Spanish name varies (níscalo, nícalo, robellón...).[8] Its Catalan name is rovelló (pl. rovellons). In the Girona area, it is called a pinetell (in Catalan) because it is collected near wild pine trees; it is typically harvested in October following the late August rains. Both this and L. deterrimus are known as "kanlıca", "çıntar" or "çam melkisi" in Turkey.[9][10] In Romania, it is known as Rascovi and it can be found in the northern regions in autumn season.

Description

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Lactarius deliciosus has a carrot-orange cap that is convex to vase shaped, inrolled when young, 3 to 14 centimetres (1 to 5+1⁄2 inches) across,[11] often with darker orange lines in the form of concentric circles. The cap is sticky and viscid when wet, but is often dry. It has crowded decurrent gills and a squat orange stipe that is often hollow, 2 to 8 cm (1 to 3 in) long and 1 to 2.5 cm (1⁄2 to 1 in) thick.[11] The flesh stains a deep green color when handled.[12] When fresh, it exudes an orange-red latex that does not change color.[11]

Chemistry

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When grown in liquid culture, the mycelium of L. deliciosus produces a mixture of fatty acids and various compounds such as chroman-4-one, anofinic acid, 3-hydroxyacetylindole, ergosterol, and cyclic dipeptides.[13]

Similar species

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The mushroom is similar to L. rubrilacteus, which stains blue, exudes a red latex, and is also edible.[14] It also resembles L. olympianus, which has white latex and tastes unpleasant.[12] Additionally, L. thyinos is orange but does not stain greenish, and L. salmoneus has a white cap.[11]

Distribution and habitat

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L. deliciosus grows under conifers on acidic soils and forms a mycorrhizal relationship with its host tree.[15] It is native to the southern Pyrenees where it grows under Mediterranean pines, as well as throughout the Mediterranean basin in Portugal, Bulgaria, Spain, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, France and elsewhere. Both this fungus and L. deterrimus are collected and sold in the İzmir Province of southwestern Turkey, and the Antalya Province of the south coast.[9][10] In the island of Cyprus, large numbers of L. deliciosus are found in the high altitude Pinus nigra and P. brutia forests of the Troodos mountain range, where locals hunt them with vigour, as this fungus is highly esteemed among the local delicacies.[16]

After analysing DNA from collections around the world, mycologists Jorinde Nuytinck, Annemieke Verbeken, and Steve Miller have concluded that L. deliciosus is a distinct European species that differs genetically, morphologically, and ecologically from populations in North America or Central America.[17] It has been reportedly introduced to Chile, Australia and New Zealand, where it grows in Pinus radiata plantations. The species has also been introduced to South Africa. In Australia, popular places for collecting this mushroom, especially among the Polish community, are around Macedon in Victoria, Mount Crawford in the Adelaide Hills and in the Oberon area in New South Wales, Australia, where they can grow to the size of a dinner plate, and in the pine forests of the Australian Capital Territory. Many people of Italian, Polish, Ukrainian and other eastern European ancestry in the states of Victoria and New South Wales, Australia travel to collect these mushrooms after autumn rainfall around Easter time.

Pine plantations and Siberian pine forests are favourable habitats for this species.

Uses

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Sliced milk-caps, showing the orange milk appearing at mushroom edges

L. deliciosus is an edible mushroom,[18] but may taste mild or bitter;[12] its misleading epithet, deliciosus ('delicious'), may have been caused by Linnaeus mistaking it for another species.[5] The mushrooms are collected in August to early October, where they are traditionally salted or pickled.[19][20] High consumption of the species may cause urine to discolor to orange or red.[21] At least one field guide holds Lactarius rubrilacteus in higher esteem.[19]

It is widely collected in the Iberian Peninsula, especially in Catalonia. It is used in Spanish and Catalan cuisine. One recipe recommends they should be lightly washed, fried whole cap down in olive oil with a small amount of garlic and served drenched in raw olive oil and parsley. The same recipe advises that butter should never be used when cooking this mushroom.[citation needed]

This mushroom is also very popular in Russia.[19]

Further north and east it is a feature of Provençal cuisine.[22] They are also collected in Poland, where they are traditionally served fried in butter, with cream, or marinated. In Cyprus, saffron milk caps are usually grilled on the charcoal and then dressed in olive oil and lemon or bitter orange, they are sauteed with onions, or sometimes stewed with onions, coriander and red wine. In Russian cuisine these mushrooms are traditionally preserved by salting.

In India, the fungus is one of the ten most widely consumed mushrooms by indigenous tribes of Meghalaya.[23]

Culture

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A fresco in the Roman town of Herculaneum appears to depict L. deliciosus and is one of the earliest pieces of art to illustrate a fungus.[24][25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Lactarius deliciosus (L.) Gray". Index Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2010-07-07.
  2. ^ Arora, David (1986). Mushrooms demystified: a comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi (Second ed.). Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-89815-169-5.
  3. ^ (in Latin) Linnaeus, C (1753). Species Plantarum: Tomus II (in Latin). Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). p. 1172.
  4. ^ Simpson, D.P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5 ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. p. 883. ISBN 0-304-52257-0.
  5. ^ a b Wasson RG. (1968). Soma: The Divine Mushroom of Immortality. Harcourt Brace Jovanovick, Inc. ISBN 0-15-683800-1 p. 185.
  6. ^ Gray, SF (1821). The Natural Arrangement of British Plants. London. p. 624.
  7. ^ Fergus, C. Leonard & Charles (2003). Common Edible & Poisonous Mushrooms of the Northeast. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. pp. 30–31. ISBN 0-8117-2641-X.
  8. ^ MacMiadhacháin, A (1976). Spanish Regional Cookery. Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 198–99. ISBN 0-14-046230-9.
  9. ^ a b Solak MH, Isiloglu M, Gücin F, Gökler I (1999). "Macrofungi of Izmir Province" (PDF). Turkish Journal of Botany. 23: 383–90. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  10. ^ a b Gezer K. (2000). "Contributions to the Macrofungi Flora of Antalya Province" (PDF). Turkish Journal of Botany. 24: 293–98. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  11. ^ a b c d Audubon (2023). Mushrooms of North America. Knopf. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-593-31998-7.
  12. ^ a b c Davis, R. Michael; Sommer, Robert; Menge, John A. (2012). Field Guide to Mushrooms of Western North America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 978-0-520-95360-4. OCLC 797915861.
  13. ^ Ayer WA, Trifonov LS (1994). "Aromatic compounds from liquid cultures of Lactarius deliciosus". Journal of Natural Products. 57 (6): 839–41. doi:10.1021/np50108a026.
  14. ^ Miller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuide. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-7627-3109-1.
  15. ^ Thomas, Paul W.; Jump, Alistair S. (2023-03-21). "Edible fungi crops through mycoforestry, potential for carbon negative food production and mitigation of food and forestry conflicts". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 120 (12): e2220079120. Bibcode:2023PNAS..12020079T. doi:10.1073/pnas.2220079120. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 10041105. PMID 36913576.
  16. ^ Loizides, M. (2008). A secret world: The fungi of Cyprus. Field Mycology 9 (3): 107-109. doi:10.1016/S1468-1641(10)60420-3.
  17. ^ Nuytinck J, Verbeken A, Miller SL (2007). "Worldwide phylogeny of Lactarius section Deliciosi inferred from ITS and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene sequences". Mycologia. 99 (6): 820–32. doi:10.3852/mycologia.99.6.820. PMID 18333506.
  18. ^ Miller Jr., Orson K.; Miller, Hope H. (2006). North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Guilford, CN: FalconGuide. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-7627-3109-1.
  19. ^ a b c Thiers, Harry D.; Arora, David (September 1980). "Mushrooms Demystified". Mycologia. 72 (5): 1054. doi:10.2307/3759750. ISSN 0027-5514. JSTOR 3759750.
  20. ^ Arora, David (February 1, 1991). All That the Rain Promises and More: A Hip Pocket Guide to Western Mushrooms. 10 Speed Press. ISBN 9780898153880.
  21. ^ Kunzfeld, M (1953). "Temporary report on urine discoloration and antibiotic effect after eating Lactarius deliciosus L". Munch Med Wochenschr. 95 (8): 235–6. PMID 13072328.
  22. ^ Olney, Richard (1995). A Provencal Table. London: Pavilion. pp. 31–32. ISBN 1-85793-632-9.
  23. ^ Khaund P, Joshi SR (2014). "DNA barcoding of wild edible mushrooms consumed by the ethnic tribes of India". Gene. 550 (1): 123–30. doi:10.1016/j.gene.2014.08.027. PMID 25130907.
  24. ^ Ramsbottom J. (1953). Mushrooms & Toadstools. Collins.
  25. ^ Loizides M., Kyriakou T., Tziakouris A. (2011). Edible & Toxic Fungi of Cyprus. 1st Edition, 304 p. ISBN 978-9963-7380-0-7.

Cited texts

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  • Bessette AR, Bessette A, Harris DM (2009). Milk Mushrooms of North America: A Field Guide to the Genus Lactarius. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. pp. 177–78. ISBN 978-0-8156-3229-0.
  • Hesler LR, Smith AH (1979). North American Species of Lactarius. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-08440-2.
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