Rufous milk cap or Tacked milk cap

The cap is 3-10 cm, convex at first with a small umbo in the centre, then flattened and finally funnel-shaped with a depressed centre. It's reddish brown, russet or brick-red, darker when young and paler, faded when old. The surface is dry and matte, slightly sticky in wet weather. The margin is even, inrolled in young mushrooms.

The cap is 5–15 cm across, occasionally bigger, and fleshy. Young caps are convex with an inrolled margin, then flatten and sink in the centre, and old ones become shallow funnels with a wavy edge.

The colour is lead grey with a lilac or violet tinge, sometimes with darker spots when young. With age it fades to yellowish, flesh pink or brownish. Concentric zones are faint or absent. In wet weather the surface is very slimy; in dry weather it's smooth and shiny.

The gills are crowded, narrow, adnate or slightly decurrent, whitish to cream, taking on a russet tint with age, like the cap. When damaged, they release white milk. The spore print is cream.

The gills are crowded and thin, attached to the stem or running slightly down it. They're whitish at first, then cream and ochre, and old ones can show rusty spots.

Milk drying on the gills leaves grey-green or bluish-green marks, one of the best clues to this species. The spore print is cream to yellowish.

The stem is 4-8 cm tall and 0.7-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly tapering toward the base, and often hollow in mature mushrooms. It's the same colour as the cap or slightly paler. The surface is dry and smooth, with no ring or volva, often with whitish down at the base.

The stem is 4–8 cm tall, up to 12 cm in big specimens, and 2–3 cm thick. It's cylindrical or slightly thicker towards the base, slimy, and the same colour as the cap or paler, with a yellowish tint.

It becomes hollow with age. There is no ring and no volva.

The flesh is whitish or pinkish, firm in the cap and fibrous in the stem. When damaged, it releases plenty of white milk that doesn't change colour or turn yellow in the air. That white, stable milk is an important identifying feature.

The flesh is white to creamy, brittle and almost cheese-like. Broken flesh oozes plenty of white milk that slowly turns yellow in the air and then dries to grey-green granules. The milk tastes mild at first, then very acrid and bitter.

The smell is faint and slightly resinous, with no distinctive notes. The raw flesh and milk taste very hot, sharp and peppery. There's no need to taste it: the colour of the milk is enough to identify it.

The smell is faint, and in many specimens barely noticeable; some people pick up slightly fruity or herby notes. That sets it apart from the fenugreek milk cap, which smells strongly of hay and burnt sugar as it dries.