Lactarius helvus, also known as the Poison Lactarius, is a medium-sized to large agaric with a spicy smell reminiscent of curry. It features a beige or light grey cap, buff gills, and exudes colourless, transparent milk. It typically grows solitarily or in scattered groups on the soil under conifers (rarely birch) in wet and boggy areas.

Cap velvety, initially slightly convex, becoming funnel-shaped as it matures and often has a faint zonate (bull's-eye) pattern, beige or light grey at the margins and darkening toward the centre. It has an inrolled margin when young. Gills attached to the stem or beginning to run down it, first cream-coloured, then darkening to ochre-yellow. The flesh is white or beige, often pink-tinged. Stem similarly coloured like the cap or more reddish-brown and it is approximately equal in thickness. The stem does not have a ring. Spore print creamy white to pale orangish yellow.

Microscopic Features: The spores are broadly ellipsoid, measuring 6-9 x 5-7.5 µ, and feature an ornamentation of amyloid spines and ridges, reaching heights of up to 1 µ. These spines and ridges form nearly complete reticula.

Lactarius helvus on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.