Lactarius piperatus (L.) Pers.
Family: Russulaceae
Om Shamong,  more...
Lactarius piperatus image
National Mushroom Centre  
Mata, M., D. Penjor and S. Pradham. 2010. Fungi of Bhutan. National Mushroom Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Thimphu, Bhutan.

Local name: Om Shamong

Edibility: Edible when well cooked.

Habitat: Terrestrial and scatted to gregarious.

Description: Cap: 5-15 cm wide, at first convex becoming flat, with a shallow central depression, the margin even, smooth or slightly wrinkled, whitish, sometimes yellowish tan. Hymenophore: The gills are attached to the stem or running slightly down, crowded, many forking at the ends of the gills, white in colour becoming pale cream. Stem: 2-8 cm tall, up to 2 cm wide, white, more or less equal or tapering somewhat to the base, smooth and solid. Flesh: White, thick and hard. Milk: White and sometimes drying greenish or yellowish. Spore Print: White.

Comments: The dull dry white cap very crowded narrow gills, extremely peppery taste, and copious white milk which form distinctive set characters. It has a similar form to Russula brevipes and Russula delica, but those species lack latex.There are several similar, medium-sized to large whitish, acrid milk caps with white latex, including L. neuhoffii, with large spores and only moderately gills that are sometimes pale pinkish.