How to identify Wolf's Milk

To correctly identify Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum), check each of these features in order. Misidentification is the most common cause of mushroom poisoning, so cross-reference multiple sources.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Cap

   Shape, color, surface texture, and diameter.

   Surface is varying in texture from smooth to minutely warted, changing from pink/coral when young to grayish-brown or brown when mature.

2. 2

   Gills

   Attachment to stem, color, and spacing.

   Not applicable; myxomycetes do not produce gills.

3. 3

   Stem

   Length, shape, surface, and any ring.

   Sessile; lacks a true stem structure.

4. 4

   Flesh

   Color, texture, and bruising reaction.

   Initially a thick, pinkish, paste-like fluid, maturing into a powdery, dusty, brownish mass of spores and capillitium.

5. 5

   Fruiting body

   Overall growth pattern.

   Spherical to cushion-shaped aethalia, typically 3-15 mm in diameter.

6. 6

   Habitat

   Where it grows and on what substrate.

   Found on decaying wood, stumps, and fallen logs in forests worldwide.

Key Facts

Cap surfaces

Minutely warted at maturity

Growth Form

Clustered or scattered

Spore Print

Pinkish to brownish dust

Body color

Pink, coral, or grey-brown

Odor

Not distinctive

Flesh bruises

Oozes pinkish fluid when young

Height

Up to 1.5 cm

Cap Diameter

0.3 to 1.5 cm

Fruit body characteristics

• Gill attachment: N/A
• Stem shape: None / Sessile
• Stem surface: N/A
• Ring: No
• Stem cross-section: N/A

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