About Lactarius pallescens Hesler & A.H.Sm.
Lactarius pallescens Hesler & A.H.Sm., commonly called the pallid purple-staining milk cap, is a milk-cap mushroom native to western North America. Its milk changes to violet when the mushroom's flesh is damaged. Fungi commonly identified as L. pallescens belong to a group of closely related species and varieties that all have a peppery taste, and cannot be clearly distinguished from one another with certainty. The mushroom's gray-brown cap measures 3 to 10 cm wide, and has a mucilaginous surface. It has whitish flesh and white latex. Its gills are whitish, and sometimes slightly decurrent. The stalk is viscid, and ranges from 3 to 8 cm long and 1 to 2 cm wide. Its spores are pale yellow to orange, elliptical in shape, and have a bumpy surface. The flesh of this mushroom stains lilac, and develops reddish stains as it ages. Lactarius pallescens is found on the West Coast of the United States. In the Pacific Northwest, it grows in conifer forests.
