The Fiery Milkcap (Lactarius pyrogalus) earns its name. Its abundant white milk is fiercely hot. The cap is a dull grey-brown to pale olive, often with faint darker bands, and becomes dished with a wavy edge as it ages. The fairly widely spaced cream gills run slightly down the stem, and the milk dries on them to a pale olive colour.
The best clue is the company it keeps. It grows with hazel, in coppice, hedgerows and woodland edges, from August into November. If you find a greyish milkcap under hazel, this is the likeliest candidate.
The Grey Milkcap (Lactarius vietus) and Coconut Milkcap (Lactarius glyciosmus) grow with birch, and the Coconut Milkcap smells of coconut. The Fiery Milkcap is not deadly, but it causes stomach upsets and should not be eaten.
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Distribution
Common and widespread
Habitat
Everywhere that Corylus grows
Etymology
Lactarius is Latin for 'producing milk', after the latex. pyrogalus is from the Greek pyr, 'fire', and gala, 'milk', after the burning milk.
Associates
Corylus
Conservation
Cap
Slightly sticky when damp, grey-brown to pale olive, often with faint concentric zones; dished with a wavy margin.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Convex, Flattened, Depressed |
| Surface | Smooth, Rugose |
| Width | 5 - 8 cm |
| Margin | Undulating, Inrolled |
Gills
The gills are cream, subdistant, and adnate to decurrent. The white to cream milk is copious, drying on the gills to pale olive, and is quickly very acrid.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Attachment | Adnate, Decurrent |
| Spacing | subdistant |
Flesh
White to buff and firm.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Odour | Slightly acidic fruity |
| Taste | Very acrid |
Stem
Short, paler than or the same colour as the cap, smooth and tapering to the base.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Height | 4 - 6 cm |
| Width | 15 - 20 mm |
| Texture | Smooth, Rugulose |
| Shape | Cylindric, Tapering |
Spores
The spores are amyloid, with warts and ridges up to 1μm high, the ridges forming partial zebroid stripes, with some isolated warts and few connectives.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Type | amyloid |
| Shape | Subglobose, Broadly ellipsoid |
| Ornamentation | Warty |
| Size | 5-7.5 x 4.5-6.2 μm |
Classification
- ↳ Phylum: Basidiomycota
- ↳ Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
- ↳ Class: Agaricomycetes
- ↳ Order: Russulales
- ↳ Family: Russulaceae
- ↳ Genus: Lactarius
Synonyms
- Agaricus lactifluus var. pyrogalus
- Agaricus pyrogalus Bull.
- Lactarius pyrogalus (Bull. ex Fr.) Fr.
Reference Sources
G. Kibby (2025) British Milkcaps Lactarius & Lactifluus. Geoffrey Kibby.
T. Læssøe, J. H. Peterson (2019) Fungi of Temperate Europe Vol. 1. Princeton University Press.
