How to tell Stumpy milkcap from Fenugreek milk cap

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.

The cap is 6–15 (up to 20) cm across, which makes this a big milk cap. Convex at first, it flattens out with a sunken centre, often with a small umbo when mature. The colour is beige-brown, flesh-ochre or brownish grey, fading with age. The surface is dry, finely granular or mealy, with no distinct concentric zones.

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.

The gills are crowded, narrow, adnate or slightly decurrent, pale cream to cream-ochre and darkening with age. When damaged they exude a small amount of watery, clear-white or whey-like milk — a distinctive feature of this species: the milk is neither thick nor abundant.

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.

The stem is 5–10 cm tall and 1–2.5 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly tapering toward the base, and hollow in mature mushrooms. It’s the same colour as the cap or slightly paler: beige, flesh-coloured. The surface is dry and finely fibrous, with no ring and no volva.

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 flesh is pale cream and watery, thin for such a large mushroom, and turns brittle as it dries. The milk is watery, whey-like and scanty, and does not change colour in the air. Cut flesh doesn’t noticeably darken.

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.

A very strong, distinctive smell of dry hay, chicory, burnt sugar or even maple syrup, especially pronounced as it dries. This is its most characteristic feature. Here’s the paradox: the smell is appealing, but it is a warning sign, not a sign of “edibility”. Raw, the flesh tastes bitterish with a faintly acrid aftertaste.