[Illustration: LACTARIUS DELICIOSUS.]
[Sidenote: =Mild white-milk species=]
One other species of Lactarius, _L. volemum_, may properly find a place
in this work as being easily recognized. In general shape it resembles
_L. deliciosus_. The top is of a rich sienna golden hue; the gills
are crowded. The milk is _white_ as it first falls from the fracture,
becoming _dull dark-reddish_, and having a mild, pleasant taste; gills
white, at length yellowish or buff-colored. This species is esculent.
[Sidenote: =Peppery white-milk species=]
Other species are accounted edible, even one--the peppery Lactarius,
_L. piperatus_--a pure-white variety, whose copious exudations of
_white_ milk will almost blister the lips, an _acrid_ property which
is claimed by Curtis, Smith, and others to be dispelled in cooking, by
which treatment it becomes delicious and wholesome.
This species may reach a diameter of seven inches, its shape at first
rounded, convex, then flat, concave, and finally funnel-shaped, as in
many of the species. But its decidedly ardent tang in the raw state,
as reminiscent from my own experience, warns me not to dwell too
enthusiastically upon its merits in my limited selection of desirable
esculent species.