Lactarius for ID if possible. (1 Viewer)

In a small Beech copse I came across this lactarius, which looks to me the splitting image of Lactarius subruginosus, shown on page 111 in Fungi of Switzerland but the problem is I can't find any details of l. subruginosus anywhere else, as it would seem to be a central European species. It had white milk which didn't seem to change whilst the flesh did turn pink after cutting. Any ideas?

Hi Colin,

Nice photos. I don't think I've seen this species before, but I might be able to offer a couple of pointers....

Firstly, you're definitely in the right area. The spores with massive ridges are distinctive and instantly recognisable as belonging to one of the few species near to L.pterosporus (though I think we can exclude that species because it has notably crowded gills).

I think L.subruginosus is regarded as a nomen dubium, differing from L.pterosporus in having a distinctive smell of coconut. It's not currently accepted as a British species....

This leaves L.romagnesii which has a dark brown-grey cap (not a great fit).....

.....and L.ruginosus which has a pale grey-brown cap, pink-staining flesh, an association (mainly) with Fagus and distant gills. It is said to have the darkest spore print in the group, so I guess that would be the clincher

Cheers,
Nick

Thanks again Nick - for all the effort you put in.
Spore print was darkish buff but difficult to say really how dark is darkest. But it did have a very bitter taste and looking at the spore ridges they do not seem to be forked, which I read is perhaps a characteristic pointer towards L. ruginosus rather than L. romagnesii.