Favoritos de meowymuffins92

Weather: Overcast.
Habitat: Found scattered in a section of forest near the campus buildings; they tend to pop up here every year. Overstory consisted of mostly Thuja plicata, P. menziesii, and A. macrophyllum. Found in the duff and mossy soil; I seem to find them in areas with more T. plicata and oftentimes accompanied but the beautiful Gliophorus psitticinus.
Key features: Cap measuring 2-7 cm, broadly convex, becoming plane and even uplifted with maturity. Cap margins starting down curved and becoming flat and then undulating with age. Color is orange-reddish-brown. Surface has a distinct kind of rough feel to it unlike other look alike Lactarius, almost feels like a cat tongue but not quite that rough. Not viscid even when wet.
Gills are attached and even slightly decurrent; subdistant and unequal. Lighter color than the cap. Produces a very watery latex when cut, not a thick white latex.
Stipe is 3-6cm long, 5-10 mm wide, hollow in the middle and kind of chunky-chalky texture (breaks easily.) Color fairly similar to cap.
Flesh is brittle, fragile, chalky.
Spore deposit white.
Smell is very distinctive of this species, I’ve found patches but smelling a maple-brown sugar aroma in the air and looming around. Although fresh individual specimens don’t smell like this, if many are growing in one area it definitely smells. If you dry this mushroom out, the maple smell becomes very pronounced! I’ve heard of people holding a lighter to fresh mushrooms as well to get the smell of unsure in the field.

On dead hickory branch.

Could easily squeeze water.

Pores 3-4/mm, angular; 5 mm deep.

Spore print WHITE

KOH stains purple on all surfaces.