Hatsutake

What it is

Hatsutake is the name used in the supplied catalogue for Lactarius hatsudake, a milkcap mushroom. The catalogue gives the English name Asian saffron milkcap and describes it as an ectomycorrhizal forest fungus, meaning that it forms a partnership with the roots of forest trees. The catalogue lists it as wild.

The Pu'er market study lists the taxon as Lactarius hatsudake Nobuj. Tanaka, with voucher HKAS-111725. The catalogue retains the published regional identification and notes that contemporary taxonomy has not been checked at species level. The name is therefore a published record, not a settled name.

Market and use

The Pu'er study surveyed wild mushrooms sold in the studied markets of Pu'er Prefecture in southwest Yunnan. The species table marks Lactarius hatsudake as edible. The catalogue describes it as a marketed milkcap.

The study gives no local name, price, habitat, season, preparation or informant count for this taxon. Its market price is not recorded in the text read for this entry.

Preparation

The study records preparation methods for other mushrooms in its market survey, but none for Lactarius hatsudake. No preparation or cooking method is established here.

Safety and identification

This entry is not an edibility verdict or an identification. The table marks this taxon edible, but the catalogue states that contemporary taxonomy and local safety still need species-level review. The same table marks two other Lactarius species, L. conglutinatus and L. hirtipes, as toxic, and marks several others as unknown or edible but not tasty. The genus is therefore not uniform in the study's own classification.

A market label or a published table entry does not show that a collection is the same species, or that it is safe. Wild milkcaps must be identified by a qualified expert before any use.