Introduced on its mycorrhizal host plant, Pinus radiata, and now widespread throughout pine plantation and groves throughout Southern Australia from Perth to Hobart, Melbourne to New South Wales, this mushroom is considered a favourite by amateur hunters, fresh-produce markets and foodies alike.
Excuding a milky substance on cutting and eventually bruising greenish on damage or age, this mushroom has an interesting unique crunchy texture and mild flavour and bright colour that suits a wide variety of dishes or recipes. Now often seen sold at markets and on the menus of many restaurants its culinary versitility make it an increasingly prized and popular wild species in Southern Australia.
Our pine mushrooms are picked locally in the southern foothills of the Dandenong Ranges on private property to ensure a quality product. During a solid season in April to September we can collect these in their thousands. We pick only fresh, healthy and young specimens. These mushrooms are by far our biggest seller.
Our price this season is $35-$40 per kilo fresh depending on availability.
We also sell 50g bags of this mushroom dried for $5 each.
Selby Shrooms taste rating for this species: very good.
Frequently Asked Questions
Saffron Milk Caps (Lactarius deliciosus) grow under Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine) throughout southern Australia. In the Melbourne area, they are commonly found in the southern foothills of the Dandenong Ranges and anywhere pine groves or plantations exist from Perth to Hobart. They are mycorrhizal and only grow in association with pine trees.
Saffron Milk Caps typically fruit from April through to September in Victoria, with peak season usually in May and June. During a solid season they can appear in their thousands under pine plantations. Yields vary significantly year to year depending on rainfall and soil temperature.
Lactarius deliciosus has several distinctive features: an orange to salmon-coloured cap with concentric ring markings, orange gills that exude bright orange-saffron coloured milk when cut, and flesh that eventually bruises green on damage or with age. It is always found growing under pine trees. The unique crunchy texture and bright colour make it one of the easier wild mushrooms to identify, though proper confirmation is always recommended before consumption.
I think I found a bunch of these today at hanging rock near Tamworth. They were under the snow and quite green and slimy, nestled in amongst the pine needles. We didn’t pick any they were well past their prime! Plus I had no idea what they were.
great thanks for sharing.
well worth keeping an eye out for and its pretty hard to get these guys wrong identification wise.
I have never seen these in WA. Have you got any more info about their occurrence in Perth?
Hi Morrie – thanks for checking out our page as I am a massive fan of your blog.
There was a post reporting saffies around Balingup on the shroomery a few years back but I see there are no WA collections reported on the biocache so I will edit the page as the info may be incorrect. Thanks for the clarification.
Thanks for the clarification and the kind words. It is possible that they occur in Balingup. It is one place I don’t go mushrooming, for reasons that you may understand.
I have been trying to contact you via my blog and the forum but have had no reply. Could you please check your email and PMs on the forum? Thanks, Morrie.
Hi Morrie
I keep forgetting to log back into that forum . My best contact is probably [email protected]. Ill have a look at your blog as well – last few days ive been super flat out at work.
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i am interested to grow the lactarius deliciosus can you give me information.
Being mycorrhizal it is not easy at all to cultivate.
I just found heaps at bobs picnic ground and there tasty !!!
Nice work – we have a few spots around the hills that produce very well at the right time of year.
Have done so for 50 years.
$35-$40 a kilo?
Only for the gullible “trendy city folk”
Even saw “slippery jacks” another wild mushroom widely available
in the same forests for $80 a kilo at the Vic Market!
I will now be opening a stall at markets for sure, I will make a killing.
When you find chanterelles or porcini get back to me.
Hi Jonathan, Where I can find chanterelles or Porcini Mushrooms.
Chanterelle species appear all over country, porcini in Adelaide and a few regions in Victoria.
are you still selling these? struggling to find a suppiler and have been veto’d about looking for my own…
No not this year as likewise lockdown rules made it impossible.
I have them by the hundreds here on my property, I’m mowing them down at present as there is just a limit on how many I can eat myself…… Every season without fail we get them, this year by the bucket full. Anyone wanting to pick there own for that $35 a kilo are welcome….. ha ha !
Jim
Greta NSW
Thanks Jim – nice to know. Yes now days these are so common that we dont bother selling them. Best wishes.
Any luck this year? I’ll buy some off your hands, keen to try but the misses has vetoed me trying.
Hi Richard – this year we didnt sell these mainly because there was just soooo many Saffrons and Blewits around.
Can these grow on eucalypt or do pine trees have really long roots? Found some orange, green staining lactarius in an cleared area uphill from a pine plantation around a gum tree. Nearest pine would’ve been 10-20 metres away.
Its possible it was still associated with the nearby Pine. Do you have any pictures? thanks
Just found about 20 of each… Saffrons and slippery Js..
Soaking in water and vinegar first.. Then rinsing and frying saffrons mc.s in garlic and butter..
Never done it before or eaten before. I hope im right 🙏
TBH im not a huge fan of slipperies or saffies.