page_title: Lactarius
section_title: Relationships within Lactarius
hierarchical_section_title: Lactarius / Systematics and taxonomy / Relationships within Lactarius
caption_attribution_description: Arcangeliella crassa Singer &amp; A.H. Smith
context_page_description: Lactarius is a genus of mushroom-producing, ectomycorrhizal fungi, containing several edible species. The species of the genus, commonly known as milk-caps, are characterized by the milky fluid they exude when cut or damaged. Like the closely related genus Russula, their flesh has a distinctive brittle consistency. It is a large genus with roughly 450 known species, mainly distributed in the Northern hemisphere. Recently, the genus Lactifluus has been separated from Lactarius based on molecular phylogenetic evidence.
context_section_description: Phylogenetic analyses have also revealed that Lactarius, in the strict sense, contains some species with closed (angiocarpous) fruitbodies, e.g. L. angiocarpus described from Zambia. The angiocarpous genera Arcangeliella and Zelleromyces are phylogenetically part of Lactarius.
  Systematics within Lactarius is a subject of ongoing research. Three subgenera are currently accepted and supported by molecular phylogenetics:
  Piperites: Northern temperate region, three species in tropical Africa.
  Russularia: Northern temperate region and tropical Asia.
  Plinthogalus: Northern temperate region, tropical Africa, and tropical Asia.
  Some more species, all tropical, do not seem to fall into these subgenera and occupy more basal positions within Lactarius. This includes for example L. chromospermus from tropical Africa with an odd brown spore color.
  Currently, around 600 Lactarius species are described, but roughly one fourth or 150 of these are believed to belong to Lactifluus, while the angiocarpous genera Arcangeliella and Zelleromyces have not yet been synonymized with Lactarius. It is estimated that a significant number of Lactarius species remain to be described.
caption: Arcangeliella crassa is one of the milk-caps with closed fruitbodies that are phylogenetically nested within Lactarius.
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