Lactarius sanguifluus is an edible species of fungus in the Russulaceae family. It is distributed in Asia and Europe. When bruised or cut, the fruit bodies ooze a blood-red to purple latex which turns greenish upon exposure to air. The caps are carrot to reddish-brown with darker concentric zones, and become funnel-shaped in age. Fruit bodies are found scattered or in groups under conifers, especially Douglas fir.
Lactarius sanguifluus is widely distributed in Himachal Pradesh in India, where it has been noted to grow in mixed coniferous forests, usually under the fern Onychium contiguum. In the Netherlands, it was found in calcareous dunes, growing in a warm, sunny and sheltered place at the edge of a woods dominated in pine species. It has also been collected in Belgium, and China.
The fruit bodies of Lactarius sanguifluus are edible. In India, young specimens are consumed along with L. deliciosus.
Fruit bodies can bioaccumulate heavy metals, including toxic ones, from polluted soil. For this reason, consuming mushrooms harvested from potentially contaminated sites—such as near roadsides subject to heavy traffic—is not recommended. In one Turkish study of various edible mushroom species, the fruit bodies of L. sanguifluus were determined to have accumulated high levels of zinc, manganese, nickel, cobalt, cadmium, and lead.
Lactarius vinosus has often been considered as a variety of L. sanguifluus, but morphological (especially macroscopic characters and spore-ornamentation) and molecular evidence (based on internal transcribed spacer-sequencing) has confirmed that they are separate species.
Lactarius sanguifluus contains a mixture of sterols. The predominant sterol is ergosterol (56.6% of total sterols), with lesser amounts of ergosterol derivatives, including ergost-7-en-3β-ol, ergosta-7,22-dien-3β-ol, and ergosta-5,7-dien-3β-ol.
The latex contains sesquiterpenes pigments with a guaiane skeletons; these include the compounds given the common names lactaroviolin and sangol. Some of these chemicals are thought to undergo enzymatic conversions when the fruit body becomes injured.