Bittersweet
Synonyms: pepper milky.
Description and photo of the bitter mushroom: Hat with a diameter of 4-12 cm, flat-convex, with an inwardly turned edge, depressed with age to a deep-funnel-shaped, with a protruding central tubercle, fleshy, dry, dark red-brown, often with a characteristic silky sheen. The plates are narrow, frequent, at first with a pale whitish bloom, milky sap is liberally liberated in places of break. The pulp is first whitish, then fawn, yellowish or with a reddish tint, with a slight smell of resinous wood. Milky juice is watery white, extremely burning caustic, very plentiful, does not change color in the air. Leg 1-2 X 4-10 cm, usually slightly lighter than the cap, cylindrical, sometimes swollen, whitish and pubescent at the base, hollow with age.
The bitter mushroom is distributed throughout the northern and middle parts of the forest zone of Russia, everywhere often and abundantly.
As seen in the photo above, bitter forms mycorrhiza with pine, spruce, fir, birch and hazel, often found in swamps. Fruits in May-November.
Similar species. It differs from other similarly colored lactecs by its extremely burning taste and characteristic tubercle in the center of the cap.
Medicinal properties: Alcoholic extract from fresh fruit bitter bodies shows antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella thyphi and S. paratyphi.
Cooking Application: Bitter is the most caustic of all the lactera growing in us. Used for pickling and pickling after prolonged preliminary soaking.
