About this fungus
Downy Milk Cap is a fungus in the Russulaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A pale, stocky birch milkcap with a cream to pink-buff cap and a conspicuously woolly inrolled margin when young. Mature caps flatten or become funnel-shaped while retaining at least some downy edging.
What to check
Check for birch nearby, a felted or bearded cap margin, pale crowded gills, white latex that remains white, and no ring or volva. Cap zoning may be weak.
Variation
Young caps are pale and strongly woolly. The centre may become pink, buff or vinaceous with age, while the margin becomes less hairy as it expands. Concentric bands range from visible to nearly absent depending on moisture and specimen age.
Lookalikes
Lactarius torminosus is usually more strongly salmon-pink and concentrically zoned but overlaps considerably. Lactarius scoticus is a smaller birch-associated arctic or alpine relative. Latex, host and cap appearance support an identification, while microscopic features may be decisive.
Habitat and range
Mycorrhizal specifically with birch, including young trees in wet or sandy ground, lawns, heath, woodland edges and open woodland. It is native across northern temperate and boreal regions and has also travelled with introduced birch.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
AfroBrazilian / CC BY-SA 3.0