Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei

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Milkcaps (genus Lactarius) are some of my favourite fungi. They have decent sized fruitbodies that come in a range of subtle but beautiful colours, in shades that belong on a rather exclusive paint colour chart. Milkcaps exude “milk” from their gills, the genus name, Lactarius, being derived from the Latin “lac“, meaning milk.

I always love to see a milkcap, and it’s even better when it’s a species I haven’t seen before.

The Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei, is a very attractive but rather rare fungus. This autumn I’ve been fortunate to see it twice in Norfolk.

First Sighting

My first sighting was a “twitch”, visiting a known site after someone had posted pictures of it on Facebook.

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei. October 2023. Photo: Chris Lansdell.

The site was on the edge of the Norfolk Brecks by the edge of a minor road bordered by Pedunculate Oak trees (Quercus robur). I learnt about the milkcap in late October last year but the weather was rather wet and windy at the time, so I chose not to cycle the fifty miles from Norwich to visit it. Fortunately my friend Chris had managed to go and took some pictures.

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei. October 2023. Photo: Chris Lansdell.

I was pleased when the milkcaps reappeared in late September this year in the same spot. The weather was dry and sunny and provided just the right conditions for a bike ride. I found the spot (marked by a rather pungent dog waste bin just a few yards away) and saw the fungi.

The fruitbodies were tiny, only just emerging from the dry ground. The photograph below shows the size of one of the caps, with a dead Ivy leaf for scale. In twitchers’ speak it was a “ticK’ but not the most beautiful or spectacular specimen.

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei, September 2024.

A Chance Encounter

My second sighting was on Tuesday this week. Vanna and I had gone for a bike ride along the Yare valley west of Norwich and stopped in a churchyard for lunch.

On the way in Vanna found a single woolly pinkish buff cap lying on the grass: it was Lactarius mairei again. There was no sign of the stem.

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei

Cap of a Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei.

I took a sniff of the cap and noticed a delicate, slightly fruity smell. Geoffrey Kibby describes the odour as “acidic-fruity of Pelargonium, to slightly oily” (note 1).

This time I was able to see the underside of the cap and the copious white “milk” that was oozing from the gills.

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei

Whiskery Milkcap, Lactarius mairei, underside of cap.

Taste is a useful tool when identifying milkcaps. If you dab a bit of milk on your tongue, it can be mild or acrid (hot) or bitter. The idea is not to actually eat the fungus – you spit out any residue and, if it is hot or bitter, can rinse out your mouth with water.

The milk’s colour is useful too, and whether it changes colour after several minutes – best seen when a spot of milk is dabbed on a paper tissue. Species also differ in their milk’s consistency (from watery to thick) and how abundantly it is produced.

So I dabbed a little of the abundant, white milk on my finger and tasted it. I don’t mind heat but this was not only very acrid but left a very nasty taste, difficult to describe but very unpleasant and lingering. Luckily it was lunchtime and a couple of mouthfuls of peanut butter sandwich took the taste away (note 2).

Rare, with oaks

Whiskery Milkcaps form mycorrhizal relationships with oak trees and our specimen was beneath the spreading branches of a large Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur). The fungus receives sugars from the tree, manufactured from sunlight by photosynthesis and in exchange it grows as an extension of the tree’s root system and provides the oak with water and minerals.

In Britain, Lactarius mairei is mainly found in southern England where oaks grow on calcareous soils. At the time of writing there are five records from Norfolk, from four different sites. The NBN Atlas has 38 records, all but one south of The Wash. The fungus is considered rare in Britain and is scarce in other parts of Europe too, appearing in several countries’ red data books.

The Whiskery Milkcap is usually found in September and October. The species was first found in Morocco and described for science by Georges Jean Louis Malençon in 1939. The specific name, mairei, is a tribute to the French botanist and mycologist René Maire.

I’m glad to have seen it. Next time I hope to see a full sized whole specimen, complete with stem. I might not taste the milk though.

Thanks to Chris Landell for allowing me to use his photographs.

Notes

Note 1 – “British Milkcaps: Lactarius and Lactifluus” (2016) by Geoffrey Kibby.

I also consult “Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain & Europe – Volume 1” (2017) by Geoffrey Kibby and “The Genus Lactarius” by Jacob Heilman-Clausen, Annemieke Verbeken and Jan Vesterholt (1998) when I want to identify a milkcap.

Note 2 – The “milk” (also known as “latex”) is produced when the fungus is damaged and its function is probably to clog up the mouthparts of insects and other tiny animals that try to eat the fungus. Anecdotal evidence supports this theory – I find that milkcaps’ close relatives the Brittlegills (Russula spp) have usually been nibbled by slugs, while milkcaps remain intact.

Given my experience of the milk’s taste, if I am reincarnated as a slug I will think twice before eating a Whiskery Milkcap!

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus

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The Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus, is a fungus that produces annual brackets from summer to early autumn on a variety of deciduous trees. I usually see its brackets on Ash trees but they grow on several old Apple trees on our allotment site and the first ones I saw were on Whitebeam trees on a street in Norwich (note 1).

Young and Beautiful

When young and fresh, Inonotus hispidus is a really beautiful fungus, in shades of reddish-orange. Shaggy Bracket oozes liquid as it grows, a phenomenon known as guttation (note 2).

The top of a Shaggy Bracket starts off soft and almost velvety, like the specimen below. If you move your hand across the surface it’s a bit like stroking an animal’s fur. Spores are released from the pores on the lower surface of the fruitbody.

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus

Fresh, young Shaggy Brackets, Inonotus hispidus, on an Ash tree. 24th September 2024.

Ageing Fast

But the brackets soon darken and become more coarsely hairy.

I kept track of a Shaggy Bracket on an old Apple tree on our allotment site this summer. I first noticed it on 6th August.

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus, 6th August 2024.

As it grew it flattened out and developed a softly hairy top.

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus. 13th August 2024.

After another month (13th September) the bracket was dark on top and had lost its youthful softness (note 3).

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus. 13th September 2024.

A fortnight later it had darkened still further, but looked lovely after rain (the cause of the drops underneath, rather than guttation).

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus. 26th September 2024

By late autumn Shaggy Brackets have become dry and blackened. The top surface now resembles a disreputable old rug.

The first Shaggy Brackets I saw looked like this and when I saw my first young specimen a year or two later I was surprised at the difference in appearance and texture.

Old Shaggy Brackets, Inonotus hispidus, on a Whitebeam trunk

Old Shaggy Brackets, Inonotus hispidus, on a Whitebeam trunk. November 2019.

Shaggy Brackets remain on their host tree in the winter but eventually they fall to the ground. I sometimes find them on road verges when out on a walk or bike ride, usually beneath an Ash tree.

Fallen brackets can survive for a considerable time and I still have an old fruitbody from summer 2022. It is on the ground in a corner of my allotment and provides shelter for a family of woodlice and a Leopard Slug.

Old, fallen Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus.

Old, fallen Shaggy Brackets on the ground beneath an Ash tree.

White Rot

Unfortunately for the host tree, Inonotus hispidus causes a white rot in the trunk, simultaneously breaking down cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, sometimes preceded by a “soft-rot” phase, a local breakdown of cell walls. The Newcastle Tree services website calls Shaggy Bracket “a slow assassin”.

The severity of the damage will depend on the tree. Branches of Ash trees (Fraxinus) often snap or break and trees have to be felled if there is danger to passers by, but Plane trees (Platanus) are more resilient and branches are less likely to fall, even when hollowed out.

The bracket’s attachment point on the tree trunk often remains darkened after the bracket has fallen. A sunken canker, caused by destruction of cambium, can form beneath the bracket, as shown in a photograph on the TMA Services website.

Inonotus hispidus may not fruit every year so clues like fallen brackets and darkened areas on tree trunks and branches can provide valuable clues to arborists inspecting trees to assess their health and safety (note 4).

Shaggy Bracket fruitbodies usually grow from quite high up the trunk or on the upper branches of the tree and this is the part of the tree that rots. However, last week I found a Shaggy Bracket at the base of an Ash tree, presumably growing from where the tree had been damaged by someone cutting the roadside verge.

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus

Shaggy Bracket, Inonotus hispidus, growing at the base of an Ash tree. 14th September 2024.

Confusion Unlikely

The Wild Food website describes Inonotus hispidus as “almost unmistakable when young, but when its is dry, there are a few possible confusions”. The two most likely are:

  • Chaga, the sterile sclerotium (conk) of Shaggy Bracket’s relative Inonotus obliquus. It usually grows on Birch (Betula) trees and is rare in England but more common in Scotland. The inside is reddish brown when cut but it doesn’t have the tubes and pores of the Shaggy Bracket’s fruitbody.
  • An old and dry fruitbody of Dyer’s Mazegill (Phaeolus schweinitzii). This does have tubes and pores but normally has a noticeable stem. Dyer’s Mazegill is primarily a root parasite of conifers and is rarely found on broadleaved trees.

I have never needed to check any microscopic features of Inonotus hispidus but the First Nature website gives details of pores, tubes and spores and the book ‘Poroid Fungi of Europe’ (note 1) has many more details. The First Nature and Nature Spot websites have more photographs of Shaggy Bracket fruitbodies.

“Shaggy Fibrous Ear”

The generic name Inonotus comes from ino– (fibrous) and ot (an ear). The specific name hispidus comes from Latin and means stiffly hairy, shaggy or spiny. Alternative English names include Shaggy Polypore, Velvet Fungus and, in the United States, Inonotus Canker.

In the British Isles, Inonotus hispidus is widespread and common in England but scarcer in Ireland, Wales and Scotland. It is common in south-western and central Europe and southern Scandinavia and can be found in many parts of Asia and North America.

The Shaggy Bracket isn’t an edible fungus – it’s just too tough. But it’s a lovely sight to behold, even if its growth can have unfortunate consequences for the host tree.

Notes

Note 1 – In ‘Poroid Fungi of Europe’ Ryvarden and Melo give oaks (mainly Quercus robur and Quercus petraea) as the main host trees in southern and central Europe. Other deciduous hosts are Apple (Malus, particularly on the Iberian peninsula), Sweet Chestnut (Castanea), Beech (Fagus) and Pear (Pyrus, in Sweden). In North America and former Yugoslavia Abies (fir trees) are the preferred host. L. Ryvarden & I. Melo (2022). ‘Poroid Fungi of Europe’. 3rd edition. Fungiflora, Oslo, Norway.

In the UK, Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and Plane (Platanus) are major hosts and Walnut (Juglans), Whitebeam and its relatives (Sorbus) and Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) are also used. Guy Watson & Ted Green (2011). ‘Fungi on Trees: An Arborists’ Field Guide’. Arboricultural Association, Stonehouse, Gloucestershire.

Note 2 – Like its relative the Oak Bracket, Pseudoinonotus dryadeus, that I wrote about in October 2021.

Note 3 – This is the stage of development shown in the Sterry and Hughes’ book ‘Collins Complete British Mushrooms and Toadstools’.

Note 4 – On our allotment site fruitbodies appeared in the summer of 2022 but then skipped a year and more were produced this summer.

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus

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Another August, another trip to the Ted Ellis Reserve at Wheatfen (note 1).

One of the highlights of a late summer visit is Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus, the lesser known cousin of the Common Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum. There is usually a lovely patch of it beside Penguin Dyke.

Teasels are related to scabiouses, such as Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis, which I wrote about in September 2020. Until recently they were all in their own family, the Dipsacaceae (Teasel family) but they have now been included in the Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle family) as a sub-family, the Dipsacoideae (note 2).

Small but Tall

The Small Teasel is less well known than its cousin and has smaller flowers but it often reaches greater heights. In damp soil with a good supply of nutrients, Small Teasel plants can reach at least 1.5 metres (five feet) tall.

Both the Common Teasel and Small Teasel are biennials. Their seeds usually germinate in spring or autumn and each plant forms a low rosette of leaves in its first year of growth, followed by a towering flower head in its second year.

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus, at Wheatfen. 7th August 2023.

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus, at Wheatfen. 7th August 2023.

Small Teasel flowers from late July until early September and each flower head consists of a common receptacle with numerous small, white flowers.

The main stems of Small Teasel are smooth but both the flower heads and flowering stems are spiny.

The spines on the flowering stems are soft but the sharply pointed basal bracts between the flowers are rather sharp.

Small Teasel flowers have four white petals and four white stamens with brown-black anthers at their tips.

The white petals are weakly zygomorphic and the lower petal bends down to form a lip.

Flowers In Detail

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus - flower bud

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus – flower bud. 21st August 2024.

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus - flower

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus – flower with black-brown anthers. 21st August 2024.

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus - seedhead

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus – young seedhead. 21st August 2024.

Small Teasel Leaves

The leaves of Dipsacus pilosus change shape along the flowering stem. The basal leaves, produced in the first year, are simple. Further up the stem, they have bluntish but rather irregularly-spaced and shaped sawtooth teeth. The leaves nearer the top of the stem often have a pair of leaflets at their base, as in the photograph below.

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus - leaves

Small Teasel, Dipsacus pilosus – leaves. 21st August 2024.

The Wildflower Finder website has excellent pictures of the different leaves and of flowers at different stages of development.

Mike Crewe’s Flora of East Anglia website has very useful pictures of Small Teasel, Wild Teasel and two of their introduced relatives, Cut-leaved Teasel (Dipsacus laciniatus) and Fuller’s Teasel (Dipsacus sativus) (note 3).

Distribution

By now, you’ll hopefully want to see Small Teasel for yourself.

In the British Isles, Dipsacus pilosus is a native of England and Wales, mostly in the lowlands, in the southern half of England. It is a neophyte in Ireland and the Channel Islands (note 4).

Small Teasel prefers damp, calcareous soils.

In Norfolk, Dipsacus pilosus often prefers wetter places, beside ditches, streams and riverbanks. Other than Wheatfen, I usually see it close to the River Waveney, at Syleham, on the Norfolk – Suffolk border (note 5).

Dipsacus pilosus can also be found in the more open parts of woodland – on the edges, in rides and in clearings. It also grows in scrub and hedgerows and in quarries and on waste ground.

Small Teasel relies on soil disturbance for germination of its seeds, and so its appearance can be very sporadic.

Outside the British Isles, Dipsacus pilosus is native in many European countries and as far east as Iran.

Teasels in the Garden

I grow Wild Teasels on my allotment and in my garden and they do well, even on sandy loam. Our summers are typically droughty but the plants still grow tall and flower well. Like Small Teasel, Wild Teasels rely on soil disturbance to self-seed and in winter I transplant seedlings from the allotment to grow in the garden, where there is very little bare soil.

I’ve never tried growing a Small Teasel and I suspect I would need to water it regularly in summer for it to thrive in my garden.

However, if you have moist but well-drained soil (that near-mythical ideal growing environment for so many plants) or poorly drained soil, the Small Teasel should be a lovely addition to all but the most formal, straight-laced garden. The RHS website suggests growing it in sun or partial shade in a neutral or alkaline soil.

It’s possible to buy seeds and plants online. If Small Teasel likes your growing conditions and you let it self-seed you may never need to buy it again.

Do let me know your experiences of growing Small Teasel. I find Wild Teasel is tough and slug-proof and hopefully Small Teasel will be the same.

Visitors

One of the pleasures of seeding Small Teasel at Wheatfen is the variety of insect visitors it attracts, especially bumblebees and hoverflies.

Eristalis intricaria on Small Teasel flower

Hoverfly Eristalis intricaria on Small Teasel flower. August 2024.

Volucella pelluscens on Small Teasel flower

Hoverfly Volucella pelluscens on Small Teasel flower. August 2023.

Bombus hypnorum on Small Teasel flower

Tree Bumblebee, Bombus hypnorum on Small Teasel flower. August 2022.

I often see Goldfinches feeding on the seed heads of Wild Teasel.

Small Teasel seed heads are similarly popular and the Flora of Norfolk says that the seeds are distributed by Marsh Tits and Goldfinches (note 6).

Notes

Note 1 – The Ted Ellis Reserve at Wheafen is a frequent source of inspiration for me, particularly in August when many plants are in flower there and the fen’s lush vegetation contrasts with Norfolk’s otherwise parched landscape.

After previous visits I’ve written about several of its plants, including: Marsh Sowthistle, Sonchus palustris, Common Fleabane, Pulicaria dysenterica, Great Willowherb, Epilobium hirsutum and Broad-leaved Ragwort, Senecio sarracenicus.

If you plan to visit, there is a small car park and there are bike racks behind the warden’s office. Do be aware that no dogs are allowed (bliss!) and check the website because high tides sometimes flood the lower reaches of the reserve, especially in the autumn and winter. At the time of writing, the banner at the top of the home page says “The reserve is currently open as normal – wellies are strongly recommended“.

Note 2 – In Stace’s Flora Dipsacus is still considered to be part of the Dipsacaceae, along with Cephalaria (Giant Scabious), Knautia, Succisa and Scabiosa (scabiouses). Pages 834 – 837, “New Flora of the British Isles“ by Clive Stace, Fourth Edition, 2019.

I must write about Wild Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum, sometime. In the meantime, I highly recommend John Grace’s “Plant of the Week” post for 27th July 2020 on the Botany In Scotland blog.

Note 3 – The Yellow-flowered Teasel (Dipsacus strigosus) has also been introduced into the British Isles and Stace also mentions a couple of hybrids – between Wild Teasel and Cut-leaved Teasel and between Wild Teasel and Fuller’s Teasel. Pages 834 – 837, “New Flora of the British Isles“ by Clive Stace, Fourth Edition, 2019.

Note 4 – The 2020 BSBI Plant Atlas shows it in just one ten kilometre square, on the east coast, south of Dublin.

The Wildflowers of Ireland website has details of a plant found by Zoë Devlin in County Dublin in 2007. (“The jury is still out on this identification. There is a possibility that the plant which I found in Co Dublin is ‘Dipsacus pilosus’ but also that it may be a plant very similar which has come to our shores from further afield than England or Wales where Dipsacus pilosus grows. If/when I get nearer to the precise facts about the plant in my photograph, I will alter this page of the website.“)

In Britain, neophytes are plant species that were introduced after 1492 (the year Columbus arrived in the New World).

Note 5 – St. Margaret’s church, Syleham is worth a visit too, for its history and beauty and  the massive quantity of Devil’s-bit Scabious, Succisa pratensis, in its churchyard.

Note 6 – Gillian Beckett, Alec Bull and Robin Stevenson, “A Flora of Norfolk”.  Privately published, 1999. Page 195.