Weeping milk cap

Tirmit is the local name used in the western Black Sea region for the weeping milk cap (Lactifluus volemus) (Karancı and Çetin, 2025). It releases plenty of white milk that turns brown, and should not be confused with the orange-milked saffron milk cap. The acrid fiery milkcap found under hazel is locally called fındık tirmiti.

The Turkish food site yemek.com uses the name geyik mantarı for Lactarius volemus, now called Lactifluus volemus. Local names can refer to different species from region to region, so a mushroom is identified by its features, not its name.

Lactifluus volemus is known as an edible species. Some similar milk caps are hot-tasting and poisonous, so it is never eaten without an expert's identification.

A velvety orange-brown cap; copious sticky white milk when broken; brown stains as the milk dries; and a faint fishy smell that grows with age.

In the oak and beech forests of northern Anatolia. GBIF lists records from İstanbul and Zonguldak.

In summer, June to September; Turkish records fall between June and August.

Both are milk caps, but the saffron milk cap has orange milk and grows under pines, while the weeping milk cap has white milk and grows under broadleaf trees.

The weeping milk cap (Lactifluus volemus) is not poisonous; it is an edible species. But the same Turkish name is given to other species and it has acrid look-alikes, so do not eat it until the species is certain.

Tirmit is edible if it means Lactifluus volemus. On the Black Sea coast the name is also used for the very acrid fiery milkcap (Lactarius pyrogalus), which is treated as inedible.

In Turkey geyik mantarı is also called tirmit, sütlü geyik mantarı and geyik sütü mantarı; its Latin name is Lactifluus volemus.

The weeping milk cap is fried, sautéed or added to soups; Wikipedia suggests frying it gills-up. The fishy smell of the raw mushroom fades on cooking.

The weeping milk cap is not cultivated; it is gathered from the wild and its price varies by season and region. We do not list current prices.

Yes, the weeping milk cap is an edible species. Eat a wild one only after an expert has identified it with certainty: it can be confused with woolly milkcap (Lactarius torminosus). Some milk caps are hot-tasting and poisonous, and the colour or taste of the milk is not a safe test on its own. Never eat one without an expert's identification.

In our calendar, weeping milk cap season runs Jun–Sep. The weeping milk cap fruits in summer, June to September; Turkish GBIF records fall between June and August.

The weeping milk cap grows in broadleaf and mixed woods, especially under oak and beech, forming a mycorrhizal partnership with the trees.

The weeping milk cap has few records in Turkey: GBIF lists records from İstanbul and Zonguldak, and it occurs in the broadleaf forests of northern Anatolia.

The weeping milk cap can be confused with saffron milk cap (Lactarius deliciosus, edible species), rufous milkcap (Lactarius rufus, inedible) and woolly milkcap (Lactarius torminosus, poisonous). Look-alikes are compared on this page.

In Turkish, the weeping milk cap (Lactifluus volemus) is called Geyik mantarı; other local names include tirmit, sütlü geyik mantarı and bol sütlü mantar.