In determining the species it is a very important thing to know the taste of the juice or of the fresh plant, whether it is peppery, or bitter, or mild, that is, tasteless. If one is careful not to swallow any of the juice or flesh of the plant no harm results from tasting any of the plants, provided they are not tasted too often during a short time, beyond the unpleasant sensation resulting from tasting some of the very "hot" kinds. It is important also to know the color of the milk when it first exudes from wounds and if it changes color on exposure to the air. These tests of the plant should be made of course while it is fresh. The spores are white, globose or nearly so in all species, and usually covered with minute spiny processes. There are a large number of species. Peck, 38th Report, N. Y. State Mus., pp. 111--133, describes 40 American species. [Illustration: FIGURE 118.--Lactarius corrugis. Showing corrugated cap, and white milk exuding. Dark tawny brown, gills orange brown (natural size, often larger). Copyright.] =Lactarius volemus= Fr. =Edible.=--This species is by some termed the orange brown lactarius because of its usual color. It was probably termed _Lactarius volemus_ because of the voluminous quantity of milk which exudes where the plant is broken or bruised, though it is not the only species having this character. In fresh, young plants, a mere crack or bruise will set loose quantities of the milky juice which drops rapidly from the plant. The plant is about the size of _Lactarius deliciosus_ and occurs in damp woods, where it grows in considerable abundance from July to September, several usually growing near each other. The =pileus= is convex, then expanded, often with a small elevation (umbo) at the center, or sometimes plane, and when old a little depressed in the center, smooth or somewhat wrinkled. The cap is dull orange or tawny, the shade of color being lighter in some plants and darker in others. The flesh is white and quite firm. The =gills= are white, often tinged with the same color as the pileus, but much lighter; they are adnate or slightly decurrent. The =stem= is usually short, but varies from 3--10 × 1--2 cm. It is colored like the pileus, but a lighter shade. The milk is white, abundant, mild, not unpleasant to the taste, but sticky as it dries. This plant has also long been known as one of the excellent mushrooms for food both in Europe and America. Peck states that there are several plants which resemble _Lactarius volemus_ in color and in the milk, but that no harm could come from eating them. There is one with a more reddish brown pileus, _Lactarius rufus_, found sparingly in the woods, but which has a very peppery taste. It is said by some to be poisonous.