Lactarius indigo

Lactarius indigo
The underside of a circular mushroom cap, showing closely spaced blue lines radiating from the central stem. The light blue mushroom stem is broken, and its torn flesh is colored a dark blue. In the background can be seen trees, mosses, and leaves of a forest.
The gills of L. indigo
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Russulales
Family: Russulaceae
Genus: Lactarius
Species:
L. indigo
Binomial name
Lactarius indigo
(Schwein.) Fr. (1838)
Synonyms

Agaricus indigo Schwein. (1822)
Lactarius canadensis Winder (1871)[1]
Lactifluus indigo (Schwein.) Kuntze (1891)[2]

Lactarius indigo
View the Mycomorphbox template that generates the following list
Gills on hymenium
Cap is depressed
Hymenium is adnate or decurrent
Stipe is bare
Spore print is yellow
Ecology is mycorrhizal
Edibility is edible

Lactarius indigo, commonly known as the indigo milk cap, indigo milky, indigo lactarius, blue lactarius, or blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae.

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 genus Lactarius) is also indigo blue, but slowly turns green upon exposure to air. The cap has a diameter of 5–15 cm (2–6 in), and the stem is 2–8 cm (343+18 in) tall and 1–2.5 cm (38–1 in) thick.

It is a widely distributed species, growing 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. It is an edible mushroom, and is sold in rural markets in China, Guatemala, and Mexico.

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  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kuntze1891 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).