Stumpy milkcap or Ugly 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, making this a large, fleshy milk cap. It starts convex with an inrolled, fuzzy margin, then flattens and finally becomes funnel-shaped with a sunken centre. The colour is dark olive, olive-black or brownish-black; young caps have a yellow-green tinge, old ones are almost black. In wet weather the surface is very sticky and slimy; in dry weather it's shiny, with darker concentric zones. In young mushrooms the margin is densely downy.

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 yellow to cream, taking on a dark olive tinge with age. Where damaged they darken to brown or black, a characteristic reaction. They exude white milk. The spore print is cream.

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 3–8 cm tall and 1–3 cm thick, cylindrical or thickening toward the base, solid when young and often hollow later. It's paler than the cap, olive-yellow to dingy olive, often with characteristic dark “scrobicules” (sunken pits). It's also sticky in wet weather. There's 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 whitish to yellowish and firm, slowly darkening to grey-brown when cut. Any damage releases plenty of white milk that doesn't change colour in the air but leaves dark stains on the mushroom. With alkali (KOH) it turns violet-black, another diagnostic feature.

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.

The smell is faint, neutral, slightly resinous; old mushrooms can smell dirty and earthy. Raw, the flesh and milk taste extremely acrid, bitter and hot. Do not taste it raw.