False saffron milk cap or Rufous milk cap

Cap 3-10 cm, convex at first with a small umbo in the center, then flattened and finally funnel-shaped with a depressed center. Reddish brown, russet, brick-red; darker when young, paler and faded when old. The surface is dry, matte, slightly sticky in wet weather. The cap margin is even, inrolled in young specimens.

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.

Gilled hymenophore. Gills crowded, narrow, adnate or slightly decurrent. Whitish to cream, taking on a russet tint with age, like the cap. When damaged, they release white milk. Spore print cream.

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.

Stem 4-8 cm tall, 0.7-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly tapering toward the base, often hollow in mature specimens. Same color as the cap or slightly paler. The surface is dry, smooth, with no ring and no volva, often with whitish down at the base.

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.

Flesh whitish or pinkish, firm in the cap, fibrous in the stem. When damaged, it releases abundant white milk that does not change color or turn yellow in the air. This is an important diagnostic feature — white, stable milk.

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.

Smell faint, slightly resinous, with no distinctive notes. The raw flesh and milk taste very hot, sharp, peppery. This is the best diagnostic: lick it and you’ll feel a sharp burning sensation on your tongue.

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