LACTARIUS CONTROVERSUS, BLUSHING MILKCAP.

Recently on one of my morning dog walks through a local country park I spotted a large whitish mushroom growing just beneath the grass under the row of bushes that lined the track that I was wandering along. Now obviously I had to take a closer look and to my surprise I found that there was a small clump of these odd looking fungi growing happily beneath the tangled mass of grass and leaves. I did not know which family these were from so I did a little research online when I got home , after taking a couple of photos of course, and found out that they were LACTARIUS CONTROVERSUS or commonly known as BLUSHING MILKCAP. Happy with my find and ID I thought nothing more of them until on another trip to the same country park I found a lot more of these mushrooms, with some big ones too, in a different area of the park. That was it I thought, time to do a bit more research into the BLUSHING MILKCAP, so below is some of the information I have found online and by speaking with other mushroom loving friends.

Lactarius Controversus is found around the UK as well as Europe and usually found growing near willows. It has a crumbly kind of flesh and when broken it exudes a white milky liquid, hence the name Milkcap. Mature specimens are funnel shaped with a concave cap and can grow to around 45cm in diameter. The gills are a salmon pinky colour which is why it is called the Blushing Waxcap. It is considered inedible in most of Europe as it has a strong acrid taste but apparently in some South-Eastern European countries it is picked and dried for use in certain dishes, personally after breaking and smelling one I would not even attempt to eat them.

So there you have it, some information on the BLUSHING MILKCAP, LACTARIUS CONTROVERSUS. I hope you found it interesting and as I learn more about these fungi I will endeavour to update this page.