Akahatsu
Akahatsu, Lactarius akahatsu, is a wild milkcap of East Asian pine and mixed forests that is sold in Yunnan markets, with its edibility and identity still needing species-level review.
Mushrooms
Lactifluus pinguis
Lactifluus pinguis is a wild milk cap fungus of forests in Yunnan, China, and Laos, where the catalogue records it as marketed. Its identity and local safety still need species-level review.
What it is
Lactifluus pinguis is a milk cap, a mushroom of the genus Lactifluus, which forms ectomycorrhizal partnerships with forest trees. Milk caps exude a latex when cut, and the genus contains mainly tropical species, with some well-known northern members. The catalogue calls it the regional milkcap and records it as wild material that grows in forest with its host trees.
Food use as recorded
Two ethnomycological papers in the catalogue's source list record wild milk caps sold in Southwest China and Laos. The catalogue states that L. pinguis is marketed in Yunnan and Laos, and it gives no preparation for the species.
A search of the sources available for this page did not find a Yunnan market record that names L. pinguis. The Pu'er market study names Lactifluus volemus and Lactifluus piperatus among the popular wild mushrooms sold in those markets. A Korean checklist lists L. pinguis as a species present in Korea, which is a separate record. The Yunnan market claim therefore rests on the catalogue entry and needs its own primary check.
Identification and safety
The catalogue retains the published regional identification and notes that contemporary taxonomy and local safety still need species-level review. Milk caps are often confused with one another, and this page does not establish that the species is safe to eat. Wild fungi should be identified from the whole specimen by a specialist before anyone eats them, and no preparation on this page makes an unidentified mushroom safe.
Places
Yunnan
Documented use · Region evidenceThe catalogue records the species as marketed in Yunnan. A Yunnan market survey found by a search does not list this species; it names other milk caps.
Laos
Documented use · Country evidenceThe catalogue records the species as marketed in Laos.
Related
More from Yunnan
Amanita subhemibapha
A wild Amanita of China, first reported there and listed as edible in a Yunnan ethnomycology study. The genus contains deadly species, so this page does not support identifying or eating it.
Armillaria bruneocystidia
A wood-associated Armillaria recorded in Yunnan and Sichuan, China, and listed as edible in a 2026 Chinese catalogue.
Asian black truffle relative
Tuber pseudohimalayense is a wild black truffle from Yunnan, China, listed as edible in a Chinese species catalogue. No independent assessment of its culinary use or safety is available.
Asian hedgehog mushroom
Hydnum berkeleyanum is a toothed, ectomycorrhizal forest fungus sold in food markets in Yunnan, China. Its regional identification is published, but its current name and local safety still need species-level review.
Auricularia thailandica (red ear mushroom)
Auricularia thailandica is a thin, gelatinous wood ear described from Southeast Asian collections. Research reports it edible and experimentally cultivable, but species-specific recipes and everyday handling guidance are scarce.
Boletellus indistinctus
A 2023 Chinese taxonomic treatment accepts Boletellus indistinctus as a species. A separate Yunnan market record uses this name, but its specimen identification and local food safety have not been confirmed here.
Boletus botryoides
Boletus botryoides, the grape-coloured bolete, is a porcini-like wild bolete of central and south-western China. It is listed as edible in Chinese catalogues, but no dish or preparation is documented for it.
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Sources
SpringerFood · Market
Ethnomycological study (Yunnan), Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, DOI 10.1186/s13002-022-00551-7Catalogue: marketed in Yunnan (Lactifluus pinguis listed in supplied source)
Cited in: What it is; Food use as recorded; Identification and safety
SpringerFood
Ethnomycological study (Laos), Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, DOI 10.1186/s13002-020-00423-yCatalogue: marketed in Laos
Cited in: What it is; Food use as recorded