Poisonous, and Gillet declares it to be deleterious and even dangerous, and that in the raw state it is a very strong drastic purgative. On the other hand, Cordier states that almost all authors agree in stating that it is eaten with impunity, and that Letellier has eaten it more than once without inconvenience. Cooke states: “Whether it is poison is rather uncertain, and probably assumed from its acridity.” Bulliard says: “It is very acrid and this is changed by heat into an astringent of such power that a very little suffices to produce the most terrible accidents.” On the other hand, Boudier says that the presence of an acrid milk is an indication of no importance, that in certain parts of the country they eat such Lactaria as even L. piperatus and do not experience any trouble. Certain Russulæ as acrid as any Lactaria are known to be inoffensive. The Russians preserve it in salt and eat it seasoned with oil and vinegar. =L. tur´pis= Fr.—_turpis_, base, from its ugly appearance. =Pileus= large, as much as 3–12 in. broad, _olivaceous inclining to umber_, fleshy, rigid, convex becoming plane, disk-shaped or umbilicate, at length depressed, innately hairy at the circumference or wholly covered over with tenacious gluten, _zoneless_, sometimes tawny toward the margin, _at length_ entirely _inclining to umber_; _margin for a long time involute, at the first villous, olivaceous-light-yellow_, then more or less flattened, at length often densely furrowed. =Flesh= compact, white, then slightly reddish. =Stem= 1½-3 in. long, ½-1 in. and more thick, _solid_, hard, equal or _attenuated downward_, even or pitted and uneven, but not spotted, viscid or dry, _pallid or dark olivaceous_, ochraceous-whitish at the apex. =Gills= adnato-decurrent, thin, 1–2 lines broad, much crowded, forked, _white straw-color_, spotted brownish when broken or bruised. =Milk= acrid, white, unchangeable. _Fries._ Gregarious, _rigidly and compactly fleshy_; habit almost that of Paxillus involutus. It varies with the stem hollow, and the pileus somewhat zoned. =Spores= spheroid or subspheroid, uniguttate, echinulate, 6–8µ _K._; minutely spinulose, 6–8µ _Massee_. New Jersey, Trenton, _E.B. Sterling_; North Carolina, _Curtis_, _Schweinitz_; Mt. Gretna, Pa. September, 1898. Along road in woods, moist places. _McIlvaine._ The species is attractive by its very homeliness and odd individuality. It is not inviting. Cooked it is coarse and resembles L. piperatus. An emergency species.