Delicious Saffron Milkcaps

The Saffron Milkcap is a beautiful fungus species with bright orange gills and flesh. It may look a little unprepossessing from the top when you stumble across it in the pine woods:

But look underneath and there is treasure to behold.

The stem has a series of wonderful distinctive orange marks too:

It’s called a Milkcap, or Lactarius, because it’s one of the species which exudes a milky liquid when damaged. Cut the gills of this one and it exudes carrot-coloured milk. The flesh bruises an unearthly green and the stem is hollow. Its scientific name is Lactarius deliciosus.

I look forward to finding out just how delicious it is shortly. If only there was more than just the one perfectly ripe one here.