Fenugreek Milkcap

Lactarius helvus

Damp coniferous forests, especially swampy sphagnum pine forests. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies rather stout. Cap 6-10 (15) cm across, fleshy, fibrous, velvety, matt, pinkish-ochre, orange-grey, sometimes with a faint violet tinge; gills cream, yellowish. Stem 5-12x1-3 (4) cm, the colour of the cap. Flesh yellowish, pale brownish-ochre, firm, brittle, not bitter, when dried with a strong smell of coumarin, the juice clear, colourless. Spores finely warty, the spore mass white or yellowish. A characteristic feature of these fungi is the milky juice, usually white. Characteristic features: fruiting bodies yellowish, the milky juice scanty, watery, colourless. In Lithuania 54 species of Lactarius have been found. Grows singly or in small groups. The fenugreek milkcap is inedible, even mildly poisonous.