Coconut milk cap or Stumpy milkcap

Cap 2-5 (rarely up to 7) cm, convex at first with a small bump in the centre, then flattening and finally depressed in the centre. Grayish-lilac, lilac-brown to flesh-grey, fading with age. The surface is dry, finely fibrous or mealy, with no distinct zones. 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. Pale cream with a pinkish or ochre tint, darkening with age. When damaged they exude a little white milk. 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, 0.4-0.8 cm thick, slender, cylindrical, hollow in mature mushrooms. Paler than the cap: light lilac or flesh-coloured. Smooth, with 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 delicate, thin, whitish with a lilac tint, watery in the stem. When damaged it exudes a little white milk that doesn't change colour in air, and the cut flesh doesn't darken either.

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.

A distinct smell of fresh coconut is the main diagnostic feature. It's especially noticeable as the mushroom dries or when you break the cap. Raw, the flesh tastes faintly bitterish: not acrid, but unpleasant.

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.