Serushka
- 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: Milkweed (Серушка)
- gray nest box
- Gray-purple breast
- gray milky
- Seryanka
- Subdirectory
- Milky winding
- gray nest box
- Gray-purple breast
- gray milky
- Seryanka
- Subdirectory
- Plantain
- Putik
Serushka (lat. A curvy milkman) is a fungus in the genus Lactarius (lat. Lactarius) of the Russulaceae family.
Description
Hat ∅ 5-10 cm, at first flat, somewhat convex, then funnel-shaped, with a noticeable tubercle in the middle, irregularly curved, with an uneven surface covered with small depressions. The edges of the cap are uneven, wavy. The skin is grayish in color with a leaden tint, with darker narrow concentric rings, sometimes imperceptible. Leg 5-9 cm in height, ∅ 1,5-2 cm, cylindrical, dense, first solid, then hollow, cap-colored or slightly lighter. The plates are thick, sparse, first adherent, then descending along the stem, often sinuous. Spores yellowish. The pulp is dense, whitish in color, at the break it abundantly secretes a watery-white caustic milky juice that does not change color in the air.
Variability
The color of the cap can vary from pinkish or brownish gray to dark lead. The plates can be from light yellow to cream and ocher.
Habitat
Birch, aspen and mixed forests, as well as in clearings, edges and along forest roads.
Season
From mid-summer to October.
Similar species
It differs from other representatives of the genus Lactarius in rare yellowish plates, uncharacteristic of lactic ones.
Food quality
Conditionally edible mushroom, used salted.