I had to rub my eyes the first time I saw a group of Woolly Milkcaps, Lactarius torminosus, in bright sunlight beneath a tall silver birch tree. They are the archetypal Tellytubby mushrooms - perhaps even more so than are the Fly Agarics of fairytale fame - and equally dubious as a source of food. One common name for this relatively uncommon mushroom is Poison Powderpuff. Enough said? (Actually, torminosus means 'cause of colic', and so the scientific name is also a warning.)
The Woolly Milkcap generally occurs either solitarily or in small scattered groups, always with trees and almost invariably close to birches in grass-covered glades and woodland edges. One on the larger fungi in this genus, Lactarius torminosus is one of the easiest species to identify without microscopy or chemical tests - some of the smaller milkcaps can be very tricky - and the only common species with a similar woolly cap is Lactarius pubescens, also associated with birch trees. Full details of both species can be found on www.first-nature.com/fungi
All Lactarius and Russula fungi - the Russulaceae family - are ectomycorrhizal: they form mycorrhizae that sheath the tiny rootlets of trees or shrubs. Through these mycorrhizae the fungi and trees exchange chemicals in a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) process. More about that and many other fascinating facts about mushrooms, toadstools and the like in my forthcoming book on fungi due out later this year... watch this space (blatant self publicist!).Pat
