Peppercorn (Lactarius piperatus)
- Division: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Incertae sedis (of uncertain position)
- Order: Russulales (Russulovye)
- Family: Russulaceae (Russula)
- Genus: Lactarius (Milky)
- Type: Lactarius piperatus (Pepper breast)
- Milky peppery
Pepper (lat. Peppered milk) is a mushroom genus of the Lactarius (lat. Lactarius) family
Hat ∅ 6-18 cm, slightly convex at first, then more and more funnel-shaped, in young specimens with folded edges, which then straighten and become wavy. The skin is creamy white, matte, often covered with reddish spots and cracks in the central part of the cap, smooth or slightly velvety.
The pulp is white, dense, brittle, very spicy in taste. When cut, it emits a caustic white milky juice, slightly yellowing or not changing color when dried. A solution of FeSO4 stains the flesh in a creamy pink color, under the action of alkalis (KOH) it does not change color.
Leg 4-8 cm in height, ∅ 1,2-3 cm, white, solid, very dense and tapering at the base, its surface is smooth, slightly wrinkled.
The plates are narrow, frequent, descending along the stem, sometimes forked, there are many short plates.
Spore powder is white, spores are 8,5 × 6,5 µm, ornamented, almost round, amyloid.
The color of the hat is completely white or creamy. The plates are first white, then cream. The stem is white, often covered with ocher spots over time.
Pepper mushroom is a mycorrhiza former with many trees. Common mushroom. It grows in rows or circles in damp and shaded deciduous and mixed forests, much less often in coniferous. Prefers well-drained clay soils. Occurs in the middle lane, rarely to the north.
Season summer-autumn.
- Violin (Lactarius vellereus) and aspen mushroom (Lactarius controversus) are conditionally edible mushrooms with ocher-colored plates.
- bluish milk mushroom (Lactarius glaucescens) with white milky juice, becoming grayish-greenish when dry. The milky juice of L. glaucescens turns yellow from a drop of KOH.
It is often considered inedible due to its very spicy taste, although it can be consumed as a conditionally edible after careful processing to remove bitterness, it goes only in pickling. Mushrooms can be eaten 1 month after salting. It is also sometimes dried, ground into powder and used as a hot seasoning instead of pepper.
Peppercorn has a depressing effect on the tubercle bacillus. In folk medicine, this mushroom in a slightly fried form was used to treat kidney stones. Pepper mushroom is also used in the treatment of cholelithiasis, blennorrhea, acute purulent conjunctivitis.