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What is this mushroom in the moss? A missing detail prevents a firm identification

You found a beige-yellow mushroom with a depressed cap in moss near Hartungviken, Sweden. From above it resembles a milkcap, but without seeing the underside or checking for milky fluid, the species cannot be identified.

Photograph submitted by the reader

The depressed centre of the cap, pale beige-apricot colour and mossy setting point mainly towards a milkcap. Milkcaps are often recognised by the milky fluid released when their gills or stems are broken. That information is missing here: you have not seen the underside or checked whether it produces milk when damaged.

This photograph alone therefore does not support a reliable identification beyond the milkcap group. Several pale species can look very similar from above, particularly in Swedish woodland in September.

What would help identify it

  • A sharp photograph taken directly beneath the cap to show the gills
  • A photograph of the whole mushroom with its stem intact
  • If you carefully break a gill, whether milky fluid appears and what colour it is
  • Whether the fluid changes colour after a minute or so
  • If possible, whether it grew near birch, spruce or pine, as the associated tree often helps considerably
Sources and images 1
  1. Original reader contribution ↗Reader question
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