Lactarius Vietus - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

Lactarius vietus was first described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1821 as Agaricus vietus in his Systema Mycologicum. In his 1838 work Epicrisis systematis mycologici, Fries reclassified the species as a Lactarius, giving it its current name. Subsequent attempts to reclassify the species have been unsuccessful. In his 1871 work Der Führer in die Pilzkunde, Paul Kummer reclassified the species as a member of Galorrheus, and in Otto Kuntze's 1891 Revisio generum plantarum, the species was placed in the genus Lactifluus. Both Galorrheus vietus and Lactifluus vietus are now considered obligate synonyms (different names for the same species based on one type) of Lactarius vietus. The specific epithet is from the Latin vietus, meaning shrunken. It is commonly known as the grey milkcap.