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Friday, 5 August 2016

Lactarius britannicus (or L. fulvissimus)

The Tawny Milkcap


There is dissent in the ranks!!!

Some authors suggest that L.britannicus and L. fulvissimus are in fact one and the same species. Others disagree and separate the two.

 I'm going with L. britannicus for one reason alone.
 In his key to \the British Milkcaps, Geoffrey Kibby describes them as two species. Both species appear morphologicaly identical as far as I can see, except for one thing - the milk of L. britannicus is described as "turning yellow when placed on a white handkerchief" (yes I know - in the age of tissues, who carries a white handkerchief?). This is not the case for L. fulvissimus.
The milk of these fb's turned distinctly yellow, so I think I'll opt for L. britannicus.
They were growing under a patch of Hazel which doesn't help much! Until someone runs the DNA - - - - - - 

1 comment:

  1. This sadly is the last item posted by Tony and just minutes/hours befor he tragically collapsed (see Linda's post above). This is a typical contribution where Tony took such care with identification of finds. All of us who got to know Tony were impressed by his infectious enthusiasm. The small band of folk looking at fungi in the county will miss his presence enormously. It is impossible to imagine the loss to his family.

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