Grey Milkcap

Lactarius vietus

Forests, especially birch woods. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies small, medium-sized. Cap 3-8 cm across, thin-fleshed, pale ash-coloured, grey, brownish-grey, fading, matt, fibrous. Gills whitish, later yellowish-brownish, crowded, adnate. Stem 3—5x0.5-1.5 cm, whitish, when old brownish. Flesh thin, greyish, brittle, without a particular smell or taste. The milk is white, scanty. Characteristic features: fruiting bodies brittle, delicate, grey; the milk does not change colour. Grows singly, most often in groups. Edible, very common. The Coconut Milkcap (.L. glyciosmus(Fr.: Fr. Fr.)) is very similar; it differs in its smaller, acrid fruiting bodies with an insistently pleasant smell. Rarer, also grows under birches. Edible. Of low value.