Woolly Milkcap

Habitat

This common species is found on soil, particularly in acidic deciduous or broad-leaved woodlands and heaths. It is most frequently associated with birch trees, including young woodlands, self-sown copses, and even planted ornamental birches. It typically grows solitarily or in small trooping groups.

Photos

Appearance

Cap

4–15 cm wide; initially convex or hemispherical, becoming flattened with a depressed center or funnel-shaped. The surface is pale pink to salmon-buff with distinct concentric darker bands. It is sticky when wet and covered in woolly fibers, featuring a prominently inrolled margin that is densely bearded with white hairs.

Stem

3–8 cm long and 1–2 cm thick; cylindrical to spindle-shaped, sometimes tapering at the base. It is pale flesh-colored to salmon, often paler than the cap, and may have irregular pits. Initially finely downy, it becomes smooth and hollow with age.

Gills

Crowded and slightly decurrent, sometimes forked near the stem. Colors range from white to pale pink or salmon-buff, turning tan as they age.

Flesh

White to whitish, sometimes with pink flushes; firm and brittle when young, becoming flaccid in age.

Milk

Abundant white liquid that does not change color upon exposure to air. It has an extremely hot, acrid, or peppery taste.

Spore print

Pale cream to yellowish-cream, occasionally exhibiting a faint pink or salmon tint.

Edibility

Consuming this species raw causes severe oral blisters and gastrointestinal distress. While widely considered poisonous, it is traditionally eaten in Northern and Eastern Europe after being parboiled twice with the water discarded, or through pickling and salting. The flesh has a very hot, acrid, and peppery taste, and it may be confused with the Pitted Milk Cap or other hairy milkcaps.

Nutrient Source

It forms a symbiotic relationship with trees, exchanging nutrients with their root systems.

Common Names

Basque

esnegorri faltsu

Catalan

rovelló de cabra

Danish

Skægget mælkehat, Elv-mælkehat

Dutch

Baardige melkzwam

English

Woolly Milk-Cap, Woolly Milkcap

Finnish

karvarousku

French

Lactaire à toison, Lactaire aux tranchées, Lactaire des sapins, Lactaire aux coliques

German

Grubiger Weißtannen-Milchling, Birken-Milchling

Northern Sami

riesaraski

Norwegian Bokmål

skjeggriske

Norwegian Nynorsk

skjeggriske

Spanish

rovelló de cabra, esnegorri fatsu, falso níscalo del abedul, níscalo falso

Swedish

skäggriska

Welsh

Cap Llaeth Gwlanog

Synonyms

• Agaricus cilicioides
• Agaricus intermedius
• Agaricus torminosus
• Galorrheus cilicioides
• Galorrheus torminosus
• Lactarius cilicioides
• Lactarius intermedius
• Lactarius intermedius
• Lactarius nordmanensis
• Lactarius torminosus — Woolly Milkcap
• Lactifluus cilicioides
• Lactifluus intermedius
• Lactifluus intermedius
• Lactifluus torminosus