Rusty

Rusty milk caps

For many mycologists, rusty color is most closely associated with the genus Lactarius (milk caps).

M.Ya. Zerova describes several classic "rusty" species:

1. Rufous milk cap (Lactarius rufus): A typical resident of pine forests. It has a deep rusty, matte cap with a characteristic sharp bump in the center. It releases white milk that is incredibly burning and bitter to the taste. It is used only for salting after very long soaking.

2. Curry milk cap (Lactarius camphoratus): A smaller mushroom with a dark rusty cap and a strong distinctive smell of camphor or dried chicory.

3. Weeping milk cap (Lactarius volemus): Has a lovely fox-red cap, but unlike the rufous milk cap, its milk is sweetish, and the mushroom itself smells of fish (herring). It is considered an excellent edible mushroom.

Rusty danger: webcaps and Galerina

David Arora warns that a rusty or ferruginous cap is the trademark of many deadly mushrooms:

1. Funeral bell (Galerina marginata): This deadly poisonous honey fungus lookalike often has exactly this reddish-brown (honey-rusty) cap, especially in very humid conditions.

2. The webcap genus (Cortinarius): A huge number of species in this genus have rusty, ferruginous or brick-colored caps. This is because their spores are rusty brown, and when they settle on the mushroom they tint it further in rusty tones. Among them are deadly poisonous species (the fool's webcap).