Saffron milk cap

Lactarius deliciosus

Lactarius deliciosus is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus "Lactarius" in the order Russulales. It is found in Europe and has been accidentally introduced to other countries under conifers and can be found growing in pine plantations.
Saffron Milk Cap Red Pine Mushroom - Lactarius deliciosus Bulgaria,Geotagged,Lactarius deliciosus,Milk-cap,Red Pine Mushroom,Saffron Milk Cap,fungi,nature

Appearance

"Lactarius deliciosus" has a carrot orange cap which is convex to vase shaped, inrolled when young, 4 to 14 cm across, often with darker orange lines in the form of concentric circles. The cap is sticky and viscid when wet, but is often dry. It has crowded decurrent gills and a squat orange stipe which is often hollow, 3 to 8 cm long and 1 to 2 cm thick. This mushroom stains a deep green color when handled. When fresh, the mushroom exudes an orange-red latex or "milk" that does not change color.

In North America, this mushroom is often confused with "Lactarius rubrilacteus" which stains blue, exudes a red latex, and is also edible.
Saffron Milk Cap - Lactarius deliciosus Australia,Fall,Geotagged,Lactarius deliciosus,Saffron milk cap

Distribution

"Lactarius deliciosus" grows under the acidic soil of conifers and forms a mycorrhizal relationship with its host tree. It is native to the southern Pyrenees where it grows under Mediterranean pines.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.