Orange Milk Agaric.
Subgenus Galorrheus.
Bot. Char. Gregarious. Pileus from three to four inches across; colour dull orange-rufous, frequently zoned with concentric circles of a brighter hue, fleshy, firm, full of red orange milk, which turns green on exposure to the air (as does the whole plant when bruised); the margin at first involute and downy, then expanded, afterwards depressed. Gills decurrent, forked at the base, always of the same colour as the pileus, rather distant, substantial. Stem from two to three inches high, slightly bent, stuffed in part, scrobiculate (i. e. marked with little superficial pits); at the base strigose (i. e. covered with short pointed hairs).
This is one of the best Agarics with which I am acquainted, fully deserving both its name and the estimation in which it is held abroad. Its flesh is firm, juicy, sapid, and nutritious. It grows under old Scotch firs and pines, and occasionally in considerable abundance, and is well worth the trouble of searching for from September to the beginning of November, when it is in season. There is but one fungus which it in any way resembles, and as that one (Ag. torminosus) is acrid and poisonous, the gatherer must pay particular attention to the following characteristic difference between the two, viz. that the milk of the Ag. deliciosus is red and subsequently turns green, while that of the Ag. torminosus is white and unchangeable.
Mr. Sowerby thus speaks in praise of this species:—“I had one dressed; it was very luscious eating, full of rich gravy, with a little of the flavour of mussels.”
Sir James Smith, in his ‘Tour,’ says:—“The market of Marseilles exhibited a prodigious quantity of Ag. deliciosus, which really deserves its name, being the most delicious mushroom known.”
The Agaricus deliciosus may be served with a white sauce, or fried; but the best way to cook them, after duly seasoning with pepper and salt, and putting a piece of butter upon each, is to bake (in a closely-covered pie-dish) for about three-quarters of an hour.