Lactarius mitissimus    (Fr.:Fr.) Fr. 

common name(s) : Orange Milkcap 

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

synonyms: Lactarius aurantiacus 

edibility : inedible

potential confusions with  Lactarius mitissimus toxicity of Lactarius mitissimus genus Lactarius  

The cap is reddish orange to orange brownish. The cap surface is smooth, not viscid nor sticky.

The stem is orange, without ring.

The flesh is white to red-orange, unchanging; its taste is mild then slightly hot or bitter; the odour is faint, of shield bug or rubber; its texture is grainy (breaking like a chalk stick), exuding when cut a white milk, unchanging.

The gills are pale cream then ochre, adnate to decurrent, crowded . The spore print is white. This species is mycorrhizal. It grows on a rather calcareous or neutral soil, with spruce, oak, hornbeam, larch, willow, fir.

The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 5 cm (between 2 and 8 cm)
  height of stem approximately 5 cm (between 2 and 7 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 9 mm (between 6 and 12 mm)

Chemical tests : none.

Distinctive features : bright colour, milk mild at first, then bitter

Lactarius mitissimus is rare and confined in the forest of Rambouillet, and is occasional, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Lactarius mitissimus in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Lactarius mitissimus in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18