Lactarius pallescens is a Western North American "milk-cap" mushroom, of which the milk turns violet when the flesh is damaged.

The fungi generally identified as L. pallescens are part of a complex of closely related species and varieties which have a peppery taste and are difficult to delimit definitively.

[1] The gray-brown cap ranges from 3 to 10 cm in width, with a mucilaginous surface,[2] whitish flesh and white latex.

The spores are pale yellow to orange, elliptical, and bumpy.

[2] Lactarius pallescens is found on the West Coast of the United States.