False saffron milk cap or Saffron milk cap

Cap 3-10 cm across, when young convex with an inrolled margin, becoming with age flattened and spread out with a pronounced funnel in the center. The cap skin is smooth, slimy in wet weather, dry and matte in dry weather. Color orange-ginger, less often flesh-orange, with characteristic darker concentric zones. Quickly turns blue-green when pressed — a diagnostic feature. The margin is even and smooth, without fluffy hairs.

Cap 4–15 cm across, convex at first, then funnel-shaped. Surface smooth or slightly sticky, bright orange or brick-rusty, with darker concentric zones. Turns greenish when damaged.

Gilled hymenophore — the gills are decurrent, crowded, orange-cream at first, with age ochre with green spots. Quickly turn green when touched. Spore print ochre-cream.

Gills crowded, narrow, decurrent, bright orange, turning green when damaged. They release an orange milk that stays unchanged or slowly turns green — this is the key identification feature.

Stem 3-7 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, hollow in old specimens. Color orange to rusty-ginger, with characteristic darker shallow pits ("scrobicules") — a typical feature of saffron milk caps. Quickly turns green when pressed. No ring.

Stem 3–8 cm tall, 1–2.5 cm thick, cylindrical, solid (in young ones), hollow in mature ones. Surface orange, smooth, turning green when damaged. Often has small pits. No ring.

Flesh thin, brittle, salmon-orange. When cut it releases orange milk, which turns wine-red in the air after 5-15 min, then turns blue-green together with the flesh — a characteristic reaction, stronger than in L. salmonicolor. Smell fruity-resinous, pleasant, taste mild, sweetish, not bitter.

Flesh firm, orange-yellow or orange, slowly turning green on exposure to air when damaged. Releases an orange milk whose taste is mild or slightly acrid depending on where it grows. The mushroom tastes pleasant, slightly resinous.

Pleasant, fruity and resinous with a hint of conifer needles — typical of saffron milk caps.

Smell pleasant, fruity-resinous, with light notes of conifer forest. The aroma survives salting and pickling, giving the food a distinctive woodland character.