#milkcap

Lactarius spinosulus, the lilacscale milkcap. Pinkest of the milkcaps; it is related to the wooly milk caps, but only ever manages a sort of short stubble.

Milkcap 》 Lactarius psammicola

Epping, UK, October 2022

Mild milkcap (Lactarius subdulcis) 

26/10/2020 When cut or bruised, this milkcap mushroom oozes a Not Ominous At All Thick Dark Red Liquid. We cooked them in butter. The butter turned Red. Butter for the Butter God.

This species is ectomycorrhyzal with fir trees: they have a symbiotic relationship. The fungus makes a network of strands across a large volume of soil, including growing right into the tree roots. The tree uses sunlight to make sugars, and shares them with the fungus. In exchange, the fungus shares water and nutrients its network has extracted from the soil. Sometimes it connects multiple trees, and they can share resources through the fungal network.

It's one of the most convenient ectomycorrhyzal fungi to study scientifically. You don’t have to gene sequence anything; it’s always easy to tell where this fungus is. If a tree is symbiotic with this fungus, the roots will seep Not Ominous At All Thick Dark Red Liquid when cut. The forest bleeds, down there in the dark silent earth.