Fungi found under spruce and birch

[RMP234]

lactarius representaneus and Helvella elastica found today with spruce and birch.
Are these fairly rare? The L. representaneus was in a beautifull group of about 20 fruitbodies
confirmation of these species would be great
Robert

[Chris Yeates]

Originally Posted by RMP234

lactarius represaentaneus and Helvella elastica found today with spruce and birch.
Are these fairly rare? The L. representaneus was in a beautifull group of about 20 fruitbodies
confirmation of these species would be great
Robert

Lactarius repraesentaneus, being as it is almost exclusively Scottish I have no experience of in the field - however the description in the Lactarius volume of Fungi of Northern Europe speaks of (and illustrates) a fungus described as "A large, yellow, lilac staining Lactarius with bearded cap margin and pitted stem" - that certainly does not resemble the fungus in this photograph . . . . I suspect that this is more likely a member of the Section Piperites - though the image is rather over-exposed

Chris

[Ken Burgess]

Originally Posted by RMP234

lactarius representaneus ... found today with spruce and birch.

One of the essential characters for keying Lactarius species out macroscopically is the colour of the milk and any colour changes on exposure to air or on the flesh of the 'fruitbody'. Without this information it is difficult to be sure you are even in the right section.

Ken

[RMP234]

I hope this picture shows the pitting on the stem and the bearded cap margin better, The milk did turn from whitish to a purple/ lilac colour.
I agree the photos are not the best it was absolutely pouring and just after these shots the camera stopped working alltogether. I am back in the area this Saturday and will try to get some better pictures of the milk colour etc.
Many thanks for the replies though they are really appreciated
cheers
Robert