| Re: Guess the fungus
Well John, you are in the right area but the colour is not right for Lactarius torminosus. There are distinctly ochraceous tones in the colour of the cap which would rule out both L. torminosus and L. pubescens.
With that strongly woolly edge to the cap (and no evidence of any strong colour change in the milk on the gills which rules out section Uvidi), these would key out to subgenus Piperites, section Piperites which has only three British representatives, the two above and Lactarius mairei.
I have adapted the key in Roberto Galli's book on Lactarius to include only British species and relevant extracts from the Basidiomycota Checklist. Here's the relevant extract:
SUBGENUS PIPERITES. SECTION Piperites
General characters. Cap sticky, white, flesh-coloured creamy, rose, reddish rose. Cuticle hairy-woolly, mainly at cap margin. Milk white unchanging, mostly hot. Spore print pale creamy.
1. Usually with oak but also reported with beech and ash, often on calcareous soil. Cap more or less zonate, ochraceous, ochraceous yellow, fulvous ochre… Lactarius mairei
1. Strictly associated with birch… 2
2. Medium or medium to large sized species. Cap more or less zonate, rose, reddish rose, rosy orange, reddish ochre… Lactarius torminosus
2. Medium to small sized species. Cap azonate, white, whitish rose, darker rose at centre… L. pubescens
So my guess would be Lactarius mairei. I don't know it at all, but if that's what it is it's a wonderful find. Here's the relevant text from the Basidiomycota Checklist:
"Habitat: On soil (often calcareous) in deciduous woodland. Often associated with Quercus spp., but also reported with Fagus and Fraxinus.
Notes: This is a small but distinctive species, possibly genuinely rare though widespread in Britain. Known from England (Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, West Kent and West Sussex) and a single collection from Scotland (Easterness)."
Ken  |