Indigo milkcap

Overview

Indigo milkcap, Lactarius indigo, is a milkcap of forests in Mexico and Guatemala. It forms ectomycorrhizal partnerships with trees.

The species is a wild food in parts of Mexico, where it is roasted or dried, and it is sold in rural markets in Mexico and Guatemala.

Names

In Guatemala it is called shara or xara azul, meaning blue. In central Mexico it is called anil, azul or hongo azul. In Veracruz and Puebla it is called quexque.

The catalogue also searches it under the alias Indigo milkcap and records no further name.

Food use and markets

The catalogue records roasting and traditional drying in parts of Mexico. In Mexico, one account places the species among the mushrooms of lower rank for consumption, while views on its desirability vary.

Guatemalan market surveys list the species among edible mushrooms sold in markets and along roads, and Maya highland populations hold traditional knowledge of Lactarius species, according to the summarised records. The records do not give a dish or a recipe.

Identification and safety

A student-written wiki warns that the species can be confused with Omphalotus mexicanus, a similar-looking fungus that it describes as harmful.

The catalogue marks the record as food and market evidence, not a safety assessment. Documented food use does not establish that the species is safe in every preparation.

This page is not an identification guide. Do not eat a wild milkcap on the basis of this page. Confirm identity with an expert before eating any wild fungus.

Open questions

The sources reviewed do not describe how the mushroom is roasted or dried, how long it keeps, or how it is cooked in dishes. The Mexican ethnomycology record that would settle these points was not read in full in this pass.