Mushroom Identifier

Fungi encyclopedia

A reference for the fungi you actually find

Each entry describes one species the way you meet it in the field — the cap and its surface, what sits underneath, the stipe and its base, the spore print colour, the substrate it fruits from, and the species most often confused with it.

Showing results for Saffron Milkcap

Saffron Milkcap

Saffron Milkcap

Gilled

A pine-associated milkcap with a concentrically zoned carrot-orange funnel cap, decurrent orange gills, carrot-coloured latex and a pitted stem, the whole fungus staining dull green where damaged.

Spore print · Pale ochre to buff

False Saffron Milkcap

False Saffron Milkcap

Gilled

An orange spruce-associated milkcap whose carrot-coloured latex turns wine-red within half an hour and whose flesh and cap green strongly with age.

Spore print · Pale cream

Saffron Milk Cap

Gilled

A stout orange milkcap with concentric bands on the cap, decurrent orange gills, and carrot-orange latex that slowly turns the flesh green. It grows only with pines.

Spore print · Pale cream to buff

Fishy Milkcap

Fishy Milkcap

Gilled

A firm, apricot-orange milkcap that bleeds copious white latex and stains every damaged surface rich brown. Its strong shellfish-like odour, developing with age, is the quickest field character.

Spore print · White

Deceiving Milkcap

Deceiving Milkcap

Gilled

A small, pale pinkish-tan milkcap whose white latex turns bright yellow within seconds of exposure. A faint geranium-like odour and a preference for hornbeam and hazel help confirm it.

Spore print · Pale cream

Grey Milkcap

Grey Milkcap

Gilled

A thin-fleshed lilac-grey milkcap of damp birch woods whose white latex dries grey-green on the gills. The greasy, smooth cap and grey-staining pale gills are its key marks.

Spore print · Pale cream

Birch Milkcap

Birch Milkcap

Gilled

A small tawny orange-brown birch associate with a matt, slightly wrinkled cap and a small pointed umbo. Its scanty white latex slowly turns yellow when smeared on a white tissue.

Spore print · Pale cream

Bearded Milkcap

Bearded Milkcap

Gilled

A small pale milkcap of sandy birch ground, recognised by its almost unzoned whitish-pink cap, finely downy inrolled margin and unchanging white latex.

Spore print · Cream

Bloody Milkcap

Bloody Milkcap

Gilled

A pine-associated milkcap of southern limestone woodland whose flesh releases dark blood-red latex the instant it is cut, with no orange phase at all.

Spore print · Pale cream to buff

Mild Milkcap

Gilled

A small, abundant reddish-brown milkcap of beech litter with a dry unzoned cap, crowded pale gills and copious white latex that dries whey-like on the gills. It often fruits in large troops beneath mature beech.

Spore print · Cream to pale buff

Pale Milkcap

Gilled

A plain, pale pinkish-buff milkcap of beech woods with a smooth, slightly greasy cap, crowded pale gills and copious white latex that does not change colour. Its very lack of markings is its most useful field character.

Spore print · Pale cream

Oakbug Milkcap

Gilled

An abundant oak-associated milkcap with a dull cinnamon-brown, faintly banded cap and a heavy oily odour. Its creamy white latex does not change colour but dries brownish on the gills.

Spore print · Pale cream with pinkish tint

Woolly Milkcap

Gilled

A pink, concentrically banded birch milkcap with a heavily inrolled, shaggily woolly cap margin and copious white latex that does not change colour.

Spore print · Cream

Ugly Milkcap

Gilled

A dark olive-brown to almost black birch milkcap with a sticky cap, downy inrolled margin and cream gills that stain brown where the white latex dries.

Spore print · Cream

Liver Milkcap

Liver Milkcap

Gilled

A small dark liver-brown milkcap of pine litter on acid soils, whose white latex turns clear yellow when blotted onto a white cloth. It fruits late in the season, often in dense troops among needles and moss.

Spore print · Pale cream with pinkish tinge

Fiery Milkcap

Gilled

A grey-buff milkcap with faint watery zoning and unusually well-spaced ochre-yellow gills, found almost exclusively under hazel. Its white latex dries greyish and its gill spacing sets it apart from other grey milkcaps.

Spore print · Pale cream to pale yellow

Fenugreek Milkcap

Fenugreek Milkcap

Gilled

A large, dry, felty fawn milkcap of bogs and wet birch woods, with scanty watery latex and a powerful aromatic odour of fenugreek that intensifies as specimens dry. It is a reliable indicator of wet, acid, peaty ground.

Spore print · Pale cream

Indigo Milkcap

Indigo Milkcap

Gilled

An unmistakable milkcap with a silvery indigo-blue cap and gills that bleed dark blue latex, staining green where handled. It forms mycorrhizal partnerships with oaks and pines across eastern North America, Central America and parts of East Asia.

Spore print · Cream to pale yellow

Hygrophorus Milkcap

Hygrophorus Milkcap

Gilled

An orange-brown North American milkcap recognised instantly by its very widely spaced, waxy-looking white gills and copious white latex that does not change colour. Its dry, velvety, wrinkled cap adds to the resemblance to a waxcap.

Spore print · White

Fleecy Milkcap

Fleecy Milkcap

Gilled

A heavy chalk-white milkcap with a velvety fleecy cap, widely spaced cream gills that stain brown, and thick white latex from broken flesh.

Spore print · White to cream

Curry Milkcap

Curry Milkcap

Gilled

A small dark chestnut-brown milkcap with a tiny pointed umbo and a powerful spicy, curry-like aroma that intensifies as the fruitbody dries. Its watery white latex does not change colour.

Spore print · Pale cream

Coconut Milkcap

Coconut Milkcap

Gilled

A small greyish-lilac birch associate with a dry, finely felty cap and decurrent buff gills. Its powerful coconut-like aroma, strongest in drying material, is the defining character.

Spore print · Pale cream

Blushing Milkcap

Blushing Milkcap

Gilled

A very large, heavy white milkcap blotched with wine-red or vinaceous patches, distinguished by crowded pink gills and copious white latex. It grows exclusively with poplars and willows, often in dune slacks and damp sandy ground.

Spore print · Pale pinkish-cream

Beech Milkcap

Beech Milkcap

Gilled

An abundant beechwood milkcap with a slimy olive-grey cap patterned with dark, droplet-like concentric spots. Its copious white latex dries grey on the gills.

Spore print · White to pale cream