Milk-cap (also milk cap, milkcap, or milky) is a

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

that refers to

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

-forming

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

of the

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

Lactarius ''Lactarius'' is a genus of mushroom-producing, ectomycorrhizal fungi, containing several edible species. The species of the genus, commonly known as milk-caps, are characterized by the milky fluid ("latex") they exude when cut or damaged. Like ...

'', ''

Lactifluus ''Lactifluus'' is one of three genera of mushroom-forming fungi containing species commonly named " milk-caps", the others being ''Lactarius'' and ''Multifurca''. It has been separated from ''Lactarius'' based on molecular phylogenetic evidence ...

'', and ''

Multifurca ''Multifurca'' is a rare genus of ectomycorrhizal fungi in the family Russulaceae. It was described in 2008, after molecular phylogenetic study had shown that it forms a monophyletic lineage within the family, sister to '' Lactarius''. The gen ...

'', all in the family

Russulaceae The Russulaceae are a diverse family of fungi in the order Russulales, with roughly 1,900 known species and a worldwide distribution. They comprise the brittlegills and the milk-caps, well-known mushroom-forming fungi that include some edible ...

. The common and eponymous feature of their fruitbodies is the

latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...

("milk") they exude when cut or bruised. Mushrooms with typical milk-cap characteristics are said to have a lactarioid

habit A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.

. Some of them are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

. Historically, these species were all united in the genus ''Lactarius'', but

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis has shown that they belong in fact to three distinct

clades A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, t ...

: * ''

'' holds most of the milk-caps known from the Northern hemisphere. * ''

'' contains mainly tropical species, but also some well known northern milk-caps. * ''

'' contains only one species exuding milk, '' M. furcata'' from North and Central America.

Some prominent species

*''

Lactarius deliciosus ''Lactarius deliciosus'', commonly known as the saffron milk cap and red pine mushroom, is one of the best known members of the large milk-cap genus ''Lactarius'' in the order Russulales. It is native to Europe, but has been accidentally introdu ...

'' - "saffron milk-cap" or "red pine mushroom" *''

Lactarius deterrimus ''Lactarius deterrimus'', also known as false saffron milkcap or orange milkcap, is a species of fungus in the family (biology), family Russulaceae. The fungus produces medium-sized basidiocarp, fruit bodies (mushrooms) with orangish pileus (my ...

'' - "false saffron milk-cap" *''

Lactarius indigo ''Lactarius indigo'', commonly known as the indigo milk cap, indigo milky, the indigo (or blue) lactarius, or the blue milk mushroom, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Russulaceae. A widely distributed species, it grows naturally i ...

'' - "indigo milk-cap" *'' Lactarius quietus'' - "oak milk-cap" *''

Lactarius torminosus ''Lactarius torminosus'', commonly known as the woolly milkcap or the bearded milkcap, is a large agaric fungus. A common and widely distributed species, it is found in North Africa, northern Asia, Europe, and North America. It was first describ ...

'' - "woolly milk-cap" *''

Lactarius turpis ''Lactarius turpis'' (also ''L. plumbeus'' or ''L. necator'') is commonly known as the ugly milk-cap in English. It is found naturally in Europe and Siberia, and has been introduced to Australia and New Zealand. While especially associated with b ...

'' - "ugly milk-cap" *''

Lactifluus piperatus ''Lactifluus piperatus'' (synonym ''Lactarius piperatus''), commonly known as the blancaccio, is a semi-edible basidiomycete fungus of the genus ''Lactifluus''. Despite being edible, it is not recommended by some because of its poor taste, thoug ...

'' – "peppery milk-cap" *''

Lactifluus vellereus ''Lactifluus vellereus'' (formerly ''Lactarius vellereus''), commonly known as the fleecy milk-cap, is a quite large fungus in the genus ''Lactifluus''. It is one of the two most common milk-caps found with beech trees, with the other being '' L ...

'' – "fleecy milk-cap" *''

Lactifluus volemus ''Lactifluus volemus'', formerly known as ''Lactarius volemus'', is a species of fungus in the family Russulaceae. It is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, in temperate regions of Europe, North America and Asia as well as some subt ...

'' – "weeping milk-cap" or "voluminous-latex milky"

References

{{fungus common name Mycology Russulales Russulales genera

Some prominent species

See also

References