Grassy ground and borders of woods. Albany, Greenbush and Sandlake. July and August.
This plant has almost exactly the color of L. volemus, but differs from it in its distant gills, short stem, less copious milk and less globose spores. Its flesh is white, with a thickness about equal to the breadth of the gills. It is probably edible, but has not yet been tested. The typical L. hygrophoroides is described as having the pileus yellowish-red and pulverulent, and the gills luteous. It is also represented as a small plant; but our specimens, while not fully agreeing with this description, approach so closely to it in some of their forms that they doubtless belong to the same species. We have therefore extended the description so that it may include our plant. In wet weather the pileus sometimes becomes funnel-form by the elevation of the margin. Peck, 38th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Mt. Gretna, Pa., 1897, grassy grounds and borders of woods. Mixed, moist woods and grassy borders. July to September. McIlvaine.
Pileus up to 4 in. across. Stem 1–2½ in., tapering, equal or tapering downward. When growing in woods the stem is longer than when growing on borders.
Its edible qualities are excellent.
L. mitis´simus Fr.—mitis, mild. Pileus 1–3 in. broad, golden-tawny, zoneless, fleshy, thin, somewhat rigid, convex, papillate, depressed, papilla vanishing, even, smooth, somewhat slippery when moist. Flesh pallid. Stem elongated, 1–3 in. long, ⅓-½ in. thick, stuffed, then hollow, even, smooth, of the same color as the pileus. Gills adnato-decurrent, somewhat arcuate, then tense and straight, 1–1½ lines and more broad, thin, crowded, a little paler than the pileus, most frequently stained with minute red spots. Milk white, mild, plentiful.
Thin; very much allied to L. subdulcis, but distinguished by the taste being mild, then somewhat bitterish, and especially by the bright, golden-tawny, resplendent color of the pileus and stem. Fries.
In mixed and pine woods. August to November. Stevenson.
Spores 6–8×5–6µ Massee; 10µ Cooke; spheroid, echinulate, 6–7µ C.B.P.
California, H. and M.