{{Short description|Species of fungus}} {{stack begin}} {{Speciesbox | image = Lactarius pyrogalus.jpg | genus = Lactarius | species = pyrogalus | authority = (Bull. ex Fr.) (1838) | synonyms_ref = <ref name="urlMycoBank">{{cite web |title=''Lactarius pyrogalus'' (Bull.) Fr. 1838 |url=http://www.mycobank.org/MycoTaxo.aspx?Link=T&Rec=157078 |publisher=International Mycological Association |work=MycoBank |access-date=2011-06-06}}</ref> | synonyms = ''Agaricus pyrogalus'' <small>Bull. (1792)</small><br/> ''Agaricus lactifluus'' var. ''pyrogalus'' <small>(Bull.) Pers.</small><br/> ''Galorrheus pyrogalus'' <small>(Bull.) P.Kumm. (1871)</small><br/> ''Lactifluus pyrogalus'' <small>(Bull.) Kuntze (1891)</small> }} {{mycomorphbox | name = ''Lactarius pyrogalus'' | whichGills = decurrent | capShape = flat | hymeniumType=gills | stipeCharacter=bare | ecologicalType=mycorrhizal | sporePrintColor=ochre | howEdible=inedible }} {{stack end}}
'''''Lactarius pyrogalus''''', commonly known as the '''fire-milk lactarius''', is a species of inedible mushroom in genus ''Lactarius''. It is greyish and differentiated from other grey ''Lactarius'' by its widely spaced, yellow gills. It is found on the forest floor in mixed woodland, especially at the base of hazel trees.
==Taxonomy== ''Lactarius pyrogalus'' was first described by French mycologist Pierre Bulliard as ''Agaricus pyrogalus'' in 1792, before being given its current binomial name by Swedish mycologist Elias Magnus Fries in 1838.
==Description== ''Lactarius pyrogalus'' has a cap {{convert|5|-|10|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} across which is grey fawn, sometimes with a yellowish tinge,<ref name="Phillips"> {{cite book |title= Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe|last= Phillips|first= Roger|year= 1981|publisher= Pan Books|location= London|isbn= 0-330-26441-9|page=85}}</ref> with pink and purple tinges not unknown.<ref name="Roody">{{cite book |title= Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=5HGMPEiy4ykC&q=Lactarius+pyrogalus&pg=PA100|access-date= 2008-07-31|last= Roody|first= William C.|year= 2003|publisher= University Press of Kentucky|location= Kentucky|isbn= 978-0-8131-9039-6|page= 100}}</ref> It is flattened convex to flat, later becoming funnel shaped.<ref name="Phillips"/> The cap is sometimes faintly concentrically banded, it is thin fleshed and becomes sticky when moist,<ref name="Phillips"/> but is not shiny.<ref name="Pegler">{{cite book |title= Mushrooms and Toadstools|last= Pegler|first= David N.|year= 1983|publisher= Mitchell Beazley Publishing|location= London|isbn= 0-85533-500-9|page= 78}}</ref> The stem is between 4 and 6 cm, and between 7 and 15 mm thick, generally cylindrical but sometimes slightly swollen at the base.<ref name="Phillips"/> The stem is whitish or concolorous with the cap, with whitish flesh.<ref name="Phillips"/> It has slightly decurrent gills, which are yellow to flesh coloured, though later become a cinnamon-ochre colour.<ref name="Phillips"/> The well-spaced, yellow gills differentiate it from other greyish ''Lactarius'' species.<ref name="Pegler"/>
thumb|left|An underside view of ''L. pyrogalus'' showing the widely spaced gills exuding drops of white latex.
===Spores=== ''Lactarius pyrogalus'' produces a light ochre spore print; the spores are broadly elliptic, with warts generally joined by a moderately thick ridges in a well-developed network.<ref name="Phillips"/> The spores are 7–8 by 5.5–7 μm in size.<ref name="Phillips"/><ref name="Pegler"/> The spores are amyloid, meaning they stain dark blue in Melzer's reagent, and feature an incomplete net.<ref name="Pegler"/>
==Distribution== ''Lactarius pyrogalus'' is fairly common<ref name="Pegler"/> and is generally found at the base of hazel trees alone or in scattered groups.<ref>{{cite book|title= The Encyclopedia of Fungi of Britain and Europe|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ULhwByKCyEwC&q=Lactarius+pyrogalus&pg=PA306|access-date= 2008-07-31|last= Jordan|first= Michael|year= 2004|publisher= Frances Lincoln|location= London|isbn= 978-0-7112-2378-3|page= 306}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It is particularly common in hazel woodland managed for coppice.<ref>{{cite book |title= Complete British Wildlife|last= Sterry|first= Paul|year= 1997|publisher= HarperCollins|isbn= 978-0-583-33638-3|page= 352}}</ref> It can also be found elsewhere on the ground in mixed woodland.<ref name="Pegler"/> It is found in the autumn months of August, September and October.<ref name="Phillips"/><ref name="Pegler"/>
==Edibility== ''Lactarius pyrogalus'' has a very hot, acrid taste and is acidic.<ref name="Phillips"/> It is due to this taste that it received both its English name, fire-milk lactarius, and its scientific name, with "pyrogalus" translating as "fire milk".<ref name="Roody"/> Despite not being poisonous,<ref name="Pegler"/> it is not regarded as edible and should be avoided.<ref name="Phillips"/><ref name="Pegler"/> This is unlike its relative, the saffron milk-cap (''L. deliciosus''), which is regarded as a choice mushroom.<ref>Phillips, 80.</ref>
==See also== *List of ''Lactarius'' species
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1784373}}
pyrogalus Category:Inedible fungi Category:Fungi described in 1792 Category:Fungi of Europe Category:Fungus species