Lactarius luculentus var. laetus Smith & Hesler. Cap 3-6cm across, very broadly convex with a papilla, becoming flat with a broadly depressed center; bright orange all over or slightly paler at the margin, becoming a little duller in older specimens; smooth, opaque when damp, slightly sticky when wet but soon dry. Gills adnexed, narrow, crowded; pale reddish clay, sometimes slowly staining brownish. Stem 40-50 x 5-7mm, hollow, firm becoming fragile, slightly bigger toward the base; same color as gills or cap; smooth. Flesh thin, firm; whitish to pale yellow. Latex milk-white, plentiful, unchanging, slowly staining gills brown. Odor typical. Taste mild, but slowly becoming bitter then acrid. Spores broadly ellipsoid, amyloid, 7.8-9.7 x 6.7-7.7µ; ornamented with a broken reticulum and some very small isolated warts and ridges, prominences 0.3-0.6µ high. Deposit cream. Habitat gregarious under conifers and mountain alder. Found in the Pacific Northwest. Season September-October. Not edible. Comment Possibly this mushroom is synonymous with Lactarius mitissimus (Fr.) Fr.