Lactarius aurantiacus - Orange Milkcap

Lactarius aurantiacus - the Orange Milkcap

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Russulales

Lactarius aurantiacus, the Orange Milkcap, is found in great abundance beneath spruce, pine and occasionally birch trees in areas where the soil is acidic. The milk (latex) is very strong, and the hot acrid taste makes this milkcap quite inedible. This is one of the hottest of all milkcaps, so taste only a little piece for identification purposes or your tongue might explode! (In some eastern European countries this large and very common mushroom is dried and used as seasoning.)

Identification Guide

	Cap 1 to 5cm in diameter, low convex to plane with a slightly depressed centre; surface is smooth, dry and slightly glossy.
	Gills The moderately spaced pinkish buff gills are broadly adnate to shortly decurrent. The latex is white and has a mild taste.
Stem	2.5 to 6.5cm tall and 5 to12mm diameter, cylindrical or slightly clavate; smooth; brownish orange. There is no stem ring.
Spore print	Whitish.
Spores	6.5 to 9.5 x 5.5 to-7.5μm, broadly ellipsoid, ornamented with warts and ridges up to 1μm tall.
Odour/taste	Slight odour of bed bugs (so experts on bed bugs say!); a fairly mild taste that does not become acrid later.
Habitat	Coniferous and deciduous woodland; also occasionally reported with dwarf willow in coastal dune slacks.
Season	July to November.
Occurrence	Fairly frequent; solitary or more often in small groups.
Similar species	Lactarius fulvissimus is very similar; it has an unpleasant odour and a more cream-coloured spore print. Lactarius subdulcis is a smaller milkcap of similar coloration; it occurs under beech trees.