page_title: Lactarius torminosus
section_title: Ecology and distribution
hierarchical_section_title: Lactarius torminosus / Ecology and distribution
caption_attribution_description: English: The fungus Lactarius torminosus (Schaeff.) Gray. Specimen photographed in Västerbotten, Sweden.
context_page_description: Lactarius torminosus, commonly known as the woolly milkcap or the bearded milkcap, is a large agaric fungus. A common and widely distributed species, it is found in North Africa, northern Asia, Europe, and North America. It was first described scientifically by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774 as an Agaricus, and later transferred to the genus Lactarius in 1821 by Samuel Frederick Gray. A variety, L. torminosus var. nordmanensis, is known from the United States, Canada, and Switzerland. L. torminosus officially became the type species of Lactarius in 2011 after molecular studies prompted the taxonomic reshuffling of species between several Russulaceae genera.
  A mycorrhizal species, L. torminosus associates with various trees, most commonly birch, and its fruit bodies grow on the ground singly or in groups in mixed forests. The caps of L. torminosus mushrooms are convex with a central depression, and attain a diameter of up to 10 cm. A blend of pink and ochre hues, the cap sometimes has concentric zones of alternating lighter and darker shades. The edge of the cap is rolled inward, and shaggy when young.
context_section_description: Lactarius torminosus is a mycorrhizal species, and as such plays an important role in facilitating nutrient and water uptake by trees. It grows in association with birch (Betula) and hemlock (Tsuga) in mixed forests. It is also known to grow in urban settings when birch trees are nearby. A field study in Scotland concluded that the species is more likely to be present in older than in younger birch woodlands. Fruit bodies grow on the ground, scattered or grouped together. They are a component of the diet of the red squirrel, and serve as breeding sites for some fungus-feeding flies in the Drosophilidae and Mycetophilidae families. Lactarius torminosus mushrooms may be parasitized by the mold Hypomyces lithuanicus, which produces a cream-ochre to cinnamon-colored granular or velvety growth of mycelium on the surfaces of the gills and causes them to be deformed.
  The species is found in northern temperate and boreal climates, penetrating sometimes into subarctic regions. It has been recorded from North Africa, northern Asia, Europe, and is common in North America, where it sometimes grows with aspen (Populus species). The North American distribution extends north into the Yukon and Alaska and south to Mexico.
caption: In Västerbotten, Sweden
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