Rufous Milkcap

Description

The rufous milkcap has a cap 3–8 cm across, dry, matt, uniformly brick-red or reddish-brown, usually with a small pointed umbo in the centre. The gills are crowded, cream to ochre, slightly decurrent on the stem. The stem is cylindrical, brittle, the colour of the cap but paler, and becomes hollow with age. A damaged fruiting body exudes copious, watery white milk, which after a moment burns in the mouth.

It grows in coniferous forests on acidic soils, most often under spruce and pine, also at the edge of peatlands, from summer to autumn. In Poland it is very common and often forms numerous groups.

It is distinguished from other brown milkcaps by the umbo on the cap, the dry and matt cap, and the acrid milk. It is not suitable for eating; if you are not sure of the species, do not collect it.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 3–8 cm (up to 10 cm); when young broadly conical with an inrolled margin, then flat-convex, usually with a small umbo in the centre, finally shallowly funnel-shaped. Cap surface dry, matt, smooth, not striate. Colour uniformly brick-red, chestnut or reddish-brown.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills crowded, about 5 mm wide, slightly decurrent on the stipe. Yellowish in young specimens, then pale cream, in older ones flesh-ochre to coloured like the cap but paler; often with red spots. In older specimens dusted with whitish spores.

Stem

Height 3–12 cm, thickness 8–18 mm, cylindrical, brittle; spongy in young specimens, hollow with age. Colour initially whitish, later pale reddish-brown, the tone of the cap but paler. No ring.

Flesh

Fairly thin, whitish to reddish-brown. When drying it gives off a strong spicy smell. Milk copious, thin, watery white; at first it seems mild, but after about a minute it becomes very burning and acrid. Do not taste the flesh or the milk.

Spore print and spores

Spore print whitish to creamy white, with a slight salmon tinge. Spores oval, 8–10 × 6–7.5 µm (descriptions may vary), surface covered with fine warts joined by thin connections into an incomplete reticulum.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Terrestrial mycorrhizal fungus. Grows on acidic soils in coniferous forests, also at the edges of bogs and peatlands, almost exclusively under spruce and pine, very rarely under birch. It is sometimes parasitised by the fungus Hypomyces lateritius, which causes mouldiness and stunted development of the gills and hardening of the flesh.

Distribution. Temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere (Eurasia, North America); in the Southern Hemisphere reported from Africa and New Zealand. Common in Central Europe, rare only on calcareous ground. Very common in Poland. Not legally protected in Poland.

Fruiting. From late spring to late autumn; in Poland most often from summer to autumn.

What can it be confused with?

• Lactarius hysginus (reddish-brown milkcap) — The most similar, but the cap has a greasy surface.
• Lactarius camphoratus (curry milkcap) — Smells of chicory or Maggi seasoning, and the milk tastes mild.
• Other brown-capped milkcaps — The rufous milkcap is most easily recognised by the pointed umbo in the centre of the cap, the burning milk and its mass occurrence under conifers.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• Described by Giovanni Scopoli in 1772 as Agaricus rufus; the epithet rufus means "red" or "ruddy" in Latin.
• Old folk names include "dziki rydz" (wild saffron milkcap), "ostry rydz" (acrid saffron milkcap), "psi rydz" (dog's saffron milkcap), "gorzki rydzek" (bitter little saffron milkcap), "psiarka" and "psi grzyb" (dog mushroom).
• When dried it gives off a strong spicy smell.
• In 1984 it was among the most frequently collected wild mushrooms in Finland.