It’s fairly easy to identify milkcaps as a genus but it can be hard to identify to species as quite a few look similar but with it’s clear milk with cloudy bits and the eventual smell of curry you can be sure you have found the correct mushroom.
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Curry Milkcap
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Curry Milkcap
| Mushroom Type | |
| Common Names | Curry Milkcap (EN), Curry Scented Milkcap, , Cap Llaeth Cyri (CY), Mleczaj Kamforowy (PL), Kámfor-Tejelőgomba (HU) |
| Scientific Name | Lactarius camphoratus |
| Season Start | Aug |
| Season End | Nov |
| Average Mushroom height (CM) | 3-7 |
| Average Cap width (CM) | 3-6 |
Please note that each and every mushroom you come across may vary in appearance to these photos.
Cap
3-6 cm. Dark red to brown with edges that curl over slightly until the cap flattens out. The middle can be darker with a central depression and a persistent umbo.
Gills
Pinkish off white to tan darkening with age, slightly running down the stem to notched (decurrent to adnate) and fairly crowded.
Milk
The milk is clear with cloudy bits and does not change colour when dry. When tasting the milk it should be mild or possibly a bit sweet, not bitter or too acrid.
Stem
3-7 cm long, 0.5-1 cm diameter. Similar in colour to the cap darkening towards the base and very brittle.
Flesh
Similar to the cap colour with white marks, can be hollow.
Habitat
In acid soil in either coniferous or deciduous woodland.
Possible Confusion
Other Milkcaps but with the milk being clear with cloudy bits and the eventual smell of curry you should avoid confusion.
Spore Print
Cream coloured. Subglobose.
Taste / Smell
Fairly indistinctive until drying when it develops the smell of curry, fenugreek or camphor.
Frequency
Common and widespread all around the UK.
Other Facts
The Curry Milkcap can be eaten if well cooked but can also be dried and used as a flavouring if added to your meal during the cooking process.
In March 2025 the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) added 1000 fungal species to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN (Global) Conservation Status of Curry Milkcap (Lactarius camphoratus) is: LC – Least Concern, with stable population. For more information, see on the following link.
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