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Peppery Milky Mushroom
(Lactarius piperatus) |
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 Note the gills of this old mushroom have been colored yellowish by the dried latex. sculptures, acrylic paints |
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This white to grayish-tan milky mushroom has a convex convex cap 2-6 inches wide that becomes sunken with age. The flesh is white. The white to cream gills are attached to the stem and closely crowded together. The dry, white stalk is 3/4 to 3-1/4 inches long, 3/8 to 1 inch thick. It's so short, the mushroom often looks like a stone embedded in the ground. |
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Peppery Milky Mushroom, side view Because it's fresher than the mushrooms modeled above, this one's whiter than the sculptures |
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The whole mushroom exudes a white latex when you break it, and if you touch this latex to your tongue, it's acrid. This makes it poisonous: If you eat the mushroom, it's like swallowing a jar of hot pepper, and you'll throw up.
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Peppery Milky Mushroom Note the white latex exuded by the gills. |
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The peppery milky mushroom grows on the ground in deciduous woods throughout eastern North America in the summer, where it's very common. In Russia, people launder this mushroom, repeatedly soaking it in brine and boiling it, to get rid of the poisonous latex. I don't recommend trying this. It's less labor-intensive to learn and find better mushrooms. |
