A dark reddish-brown milk cap of pine and other conifer woods on acid soils, often with a small central umbo. Its white latex tastes mild at first, then very hot. It is among the commonest milk caps of northern conifer forests.
Not recommended; considered poisonous raw (gastrointestinal upset). In Finland, Scandinavia and Russia it is eaten after special treatment such as parboiling, salting or canning, and it was commercially harvested there. David Arora notes it may be poisonous raw and is especially untested in North America.
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Habitat
Mycorrhizal mainly with pines, also spruce, other conifers and birch, on acidic soils; late spring to early winter.
Distribution
Northern temperate Europe, widespread and common, including Britain and Ireland. Reported as common in northern California and the Pacific Northwest. First Nature notes that North American look-alikes may not be the same species.
Characteristics
Cap: 4-10 cm, convex becoming funnel-shaped, often with a small central umbo; dry and finely matt, slightly sticky when wet; dark reddish brown. Gills: crowded, weakly decurrent, pale reddish cream, becoming blotchy with age. Stem: 4-9 cm long, 0.5-2 cm thick, smooth, colored like the cap or paler, no ring. Latex: watery white, mild at first then very hot and acrid. Odor: not distinctive. Spore print: pale cream with a slight salmon-pink tinge. Spores: 6.5-9 x 5.5-6.5 µm, broadly ellipsoid, with a nearly complete network of ridges.
