=L. controver´sus= Fr.—_contra_, against; _verto_, to turn. =Pileus= 3 in. and more broad, fleshy, compact, rigid, at the first convex, broadly umbilicate, when fuller grown _somewhat funnel-shaped, oblique_, on emerging from the ground dry, flocculose, _whitish_, then with rain smooth, viscid, _reddish, with blood-colored spots and zones_ (especially toward the margin), margin acute when young, closely involute, more or less villous. =Flesh= _very firm_. =Stem= commonly 1 in. long and thick, sometimes, however, 2 in. long and then manifestly attenuated toward the base and often excentric, _solid, obese_, even but pruinate and as if striate at the apex from the obsoletely decurrent tooth of the gills, wholly _white_, never pitted. =Gills= decurrent, thin, very crowded, 1–2 lines broad, with many shorter ones intermixed, but rarely branched, pallid-white-flesh-color. =Milk= white, unchangeable, plentiful. _Fries._ Odor weak but pleasant, taste very acrid. Allied to L. piperatus. In woods. Uncommon. August to October. _Stevenson._ =Spores= echinulate, 8×6µ _W.G.S._; globose, rough, 6–8µ _Massee_. California, _H. and M._ Edible, rather deficient in aroma and flavor. _Cooke._ (Plate XL_a_.) [Illustration: LACTARIUS BLENNIUS. About one-fourth natural size. ] =L. blen´nius= Fr. _Gr_—slimy. =Pileus= 3–5 in. across. =Flesh= thick, firm; soon expanded and more or less depressed, glutinous, dingy greenish-gray, often more or less zoned with drop-like markings; margin at first incurved and downy. =Gills= slightly decurrent, crowded, narrow, whitish or with an ochraceous tinge. =Stem= 1–2 in. long, up to 1 in. thick at the apex, where it expands into the thick flesh of the pileus, often attenuated at the base, viscid, colored like the stem or paler, soon hollow. =Milk= persistently white, very acrid. =Spores= subglobose, 7–8×6µ. In woods, on the ground, very rarely on trunks. L. turpis somewhat resembles the present species but differs in the darker olive-brown pileus and the yellow down on the incurved margin, especially when young. _Massee._ =Pileus= 2–4 in. broad, fleshy, rarely subzonate, convex, the margin generally involute and adpresso-tomentose (quite smooth, _Fries_); at length more or less depressed, dull cinereous-green, at first viscid, more or less pitted. =Milk= white, not changeable. =Gills= rather narrow, pale ochraceous, scarcely forked, not connected by veins. =Stem= 1 in. long, ¼-½ in. thick, paler than the pileus, attenuated downward, obtuse, smooth, at length hollow, sometimes pitted, very acrid. _Berk._ Edible. Coarse. ** LIMACI´NI. _Pileus viscid, etc._