Woolly Milkcaps with fantastically fuzzy edges

There’s a beautiful pinkish-white mushroom on the floor in this Birch woodland. It’s got a marvellous fuzzy-jumper top.

Gorgeous, isn’t it?

It’s the Woolly Milkcap, Lactarius torminosus. The margin of the cap is inrolled, with a big dip in the middle and fantastically fuzzy edges.

The white gills are crowded together and when they are broken they exude a white ‘milk’. I’m told that a distinctive feature is the taste of the milk is very hot, so I put a tiny amount on the tip of my tongue. I wish I hadn’t. The taste stays with me for an hour.

The Woolly Milkcap is marked poisonous in one book I have, but is marked poisonous when raw and edible when properly cooked in another. I think I’ll give it a miss this time.

Have you eaten it?