About this fungus
Birch Milkcap is a fungus in the Russulaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A small, thin-fleshed ochre to orange-brown milkcap, often with a darker centre and a low central point, growing in damp moss under birch and sometimes conifers.
What to check
Damage a gill and place a drop of the scant white latex on white paper. The mark slowly becomes sulphur-yellow, while latex on the gills may appear unchanged. Combine this reaction with the small size, pale buff gills, ringless stem, damp mossy habitat and nearby host trees.
Variation
Cap colour ranges from yellow-brown to rusty orange-brown and is usually darkest at the centre. Dry caps fade paler and old stems may become hollow. The yellow paper reaction can take several minutes and may be hard to see when little latex is produced.
Lookalikes
Mild Milkcap, Lactarius subdulcis, is usually associated with beech and its latex does not give the same clear yellow paper mark. Sphagnum Milkcap, Lactarius sphagneti, overlaps in boggy habitat and can require microscopic separation. Yellowdrop Milkcap, Lactarius chrysorrheus, is larger, usually with oak, and its latex turns yellow more rapidly.
Habitat and range
Ectomycorrhizal in damp, moderately acidic woodland and peatland, especially with birch and also reported with pine and spruce. It is frequent in temperate and boreal Europe, with records from parts of Asia and North America.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
Jerzy Opioła / CC BY-SA 3.0
Anna Baykalova (anna_ru) / CC BY-SA 3.0Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: