Lactarius deliciosus    (L.:Fr.) Gray 

common name(s) : Saffron Milkcap 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Incertae sedis/Russulales/Russulaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Russulales/Russulaceae  

synonyms: Lactarius lateritius 

edibility : edible

photo gallery of  Lactarius deliciosus
photo gallery of  Lactarius deliciosus potential confusions with  Lactarius deliciosus toxicity of Lactarius deliciosus genus Lactarius  

The cap is orange, stained with green with age. The cap surface is with faint concentric bands, viscid in wet weather.

The stem is same colour as cap, without ring.

The flesh is white, turning orange when exposed to air; its taste is mild to bitter; the odour is fruity; its texture is grainy (breaking like a chalk stick), exuding when cut an orange milk, turning green very slowly when exposed to air (in a few hours).

The gills are orange, with green stains, adnate to decurrent, crowded . The spore print is white. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows in coniferous woods, on a rather calcareous soil, most of the time with Scots pine, but also with fir, juniper, spruce.

The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 9 cm (between 3 and 20 cm)
  height of stem approximately 5 cm (between 2 and 10 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 15 mm (between 10 and 30 mm)

Chemical tests : none.

Distinctive features : Depressed cap, with orange-brown blotches on a pale background, arranged in a circular pattern, stained with green with age; orange shallow spots on stem; pale flesh exuding orange milk, unchanging or turning very slowly pale green in at least one hour; under pines only

Lactarius deliciosus is occasional and widely present in the forest of Rambouillet, and is frequent, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Lactarius deliciosus in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Lactarius deliciosus in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18