Beech milk cap or Stumpy milkcap

Cap 4–10 cm, convex with an inrolled margin at first, then flattened with a sunken centre. Grayish-olive or olive-brown, with darker concentric zones or spots. In wet weather the surface is very sticky and slimy, its most characteristic feature; in dry weather it's shiny and smooth. The margin is even, slightly inrolled in young mushrooms.

The cap is 5–10 cm across, occasionally up to 15 cm. Young caps are convex with an inrolled margin, then flatten, sink in the centre and become funnel-shaped, sometimes with a small central bump. The margin is wavy, lobed and looks bent.

The colour is grey, leaden grey, lilac-grey, pinkish grey or brownish grey, turning ochre or beige in old specimens. Concentric zones are faint or absent, though darker rings sometimes show towards the margin. The surface is smooth, dry and matt, occasionally finely cracked. In the rain it gets slightly sticky, but it's never slimy.

Gills crowded, narrow, adnate or slightly decurrent. Whitish to cream-grey; when damaged they release white milk, and the damaged spots turn grey or green. Spore print cream.

The gills are widely spaced for a milkcap, thick and brittle, attached or running slightly down the stem, often wavy and sometimes forked near the stem. They start cream or pale yellow and turn ochre with age.

Drops of white milk often bead along the gill edges. The spore print is cream to yellowish.

Stem 3–6 cm tall, 1–1.5 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly tapering toward the base, hollow in mature mushrooms. Paler than the cap, grey-olive or cream-grey. The surface is also slightly sticky in wet weather; no ring and no volva.

The stem is short and stout: 3–8 cm tall and 1–3 cm thick. It's cylindrical or tapers downwards, solid at first and hollow later, sometimes with lengthwise grooves.

It's the same colour as the cap or paler: whitish cream to lilac-grey, sometimes with ochre spots at the base. There is no ring and no volva.

Flesh whitish to greyish-green, firm, not watery. When damaged it releases plenty of white milk that slowly turns grey or green in air and leaves dark grey stains on the gills. The cut flesh also slowly turns grey.

The flesh is white to cream, firm, thick in the cap, and doesn't change colour when cut. The milk is white, plentiful and stays white in the air. Both flesh and milk taste very hot and slightly bitter.

The smell is faint, neutral and slightly resinous; old mushrooms may smell mouldy. Raw flesh and milk taste extremely acrid, hot and peppery. Do not taste it raw.

The smell is faint, fruity and slightly sour. It lacks the strong lovage smell of the fenugreek milkcap and the coconut smell of the coconut milkcap.