Species details
Oak milkcap
Lactarius quietus
Inedible
Photo: Tomas Čekanavičius · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A brownish milkcap with a faintly zoned cap and characteristic smell, closely associated with oak.
Identification features
Latex is white and changes little in colour; taste is usually mild to slightly bitter.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A brownish milkcap with a faintly zoned cap and characteristic smell, closely associated with oak. Latex is white and changes little in colour; taste is usually mild to slightly bitter. Typical habitat: Deciduous woodland and parks with oak.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 3–10 cm, reddish- to cinnamon-brown, slightly sticky when young then dry, often with blurred darker zones and a depressed centre.
- Hymenophore
- Gills grey-reddish to cinnamon-brown, crowded and slightly decurrent; latex is pale.
- Stem
- 3–6 × 0.5–1.2 cm, pale brown to cinnamon-brown, firm and later hollow.
- Flesh
- Pale reddish to whitish; latex is pale yellowish and somewhat bitter.
- Smell
- Characteristically unpleasant, bug- or insect-like.
- Spore print
- Pale yellowish.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 3–10 cm
- Stem height
- 3–6 cm
- Stem diameter
- 0,5–1,2 cm
Habitat
Deciduous woodland and parks with oak.
Fruiting period
July, August, September, October, November
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Host trees
- Oak (Quercus)
- Substrate
- Forest soil
- Notes
- Very characteristically associated with oak and common in oak and other broadleaved woodland.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Lactarius torminosus, Lactarius pubescens. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Lactarius subdulcis
Mild milkcap is usually smaller, unzoned and has white latex.
- Bearded milkcap (Lactarius pubescens)
Downy milkcap is much paler and young specimens have a distinctly hairy or woolly cap margin.
Interesting facts
Did you know? Its association with oak is so characteristic that the host tree is one of the most useful field clues.