Mushrooms
Lactarius chromospermus
Lactarius chromospermus, a milkcap of African miombo woodland, listed as edible in one regional inventory but described as not edible in other sources. Its food status is contested.
Overview
Lactarius chromospermus is a milkcap, a mushroom of the genus Lactarius that exudes latex when cut. It was described by Pegler in the Kew Bulletin in 1982 and is known in English as the African milkcap. It grows in miombo woodland, a dry tropical woodland dominated by Brachystegia trees.
The species is recorded in the supplied catalogue as a regional milkcap in the edible-species inventory of the European Food and Tropical Fungi Association, EFTA. The EFTA species page itself does not rate it as edible or poisonous. Other sources in this record classify it as not edible, so the food status is contested.
Description and latex
The EFTA page describes the latex as abundant, white when fresh and turning yellow when drying. The mature gills are chocolate brown, a colour the page calls unusual for the genus. It describes the taste as mild and pleasant, and the odour as strong and spermatic to unpleasant.
The page compares the brown gills to those of an Agaricus, a genus of common cultivated mushrooms. The resemblance is noted as a source of confusion and is not a field key.
Ecology and distribution
The species is ectomycorrhizal and is associated with Brachystegia trees. It is recorded from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The original collection came from Zambia.
The meso.cloud profile calls the species rare. The supplied catalogue records its supply as wild.
Food status
The EFTA entry, as recorded in the supplied catalogue, lists the species among regional edible milkcaps. The EFTA species page does not give that rating, and it gives no preparation notes.
The meso.cloud profile states that the species is not regarded as edible. The same profile records that in Kirundi, the language of Burundi, it has the collective name isigazi, meaning a name used for inedible mushrooms.
Safety and identification
Because the sources disagree, no edibility verdict follows from this record. The catalogue marks the EFTA listing as an institutional record that still needs separate validation of preparation, identity and current safety.
The mature gills resemble those of an Agaricus, and their colour is described as unusual for the genus. Lactarius identification needs a specialist. Anyone who finds this milkcap should not eat it on the strength of this page.
Places
Miombo woodland, central and southern Africa
Documented use · Region evidenceThe records give countries of occurrence; the EFTA inventory listing is the only food-use source and is contested by the profile.
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Sources
European Food and Tropical Fungi Association (EFTA)Identity · Ecology · Distribution · Food use
Lactarius chromospermus Pegler (EFTA species page)Described by Pegler, Kew Bulletin 37(2): 269 (1982).
Ectomycorrhizal, associated with Brachystegia in miombo; distribution Burundi, DR Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Latex white when fresh, turning yellow when drying; gills chocolate brown; taste mild and pleasant; odour strong and spermatic to unpleasant.
The page gives no edibility rating and no safety warning.
MesoFood use · Distribution
Lactarius chromospermus (Meso profile)Not regarded as an edible species; in Kirundi, the collective name isigazi for inedible mushrooms.
Rare species; original collection in Zambia; recorded in Burundi and Tanzania.