ID Help please, found in woodlands on the south downs

[NickCantle]

No matter how uneven the surface, I've never seen X. radicata grow any other way than directly up. Never ever have I seen them growing without a dead straight stipe.

[Ken Burgess]

Originally Posted by flaxton

I am struggling with an "atypical" Xerula I refuse to accept a Rooting Tough Shank

Mal

I agree Mal but those gills are so distinctive you would think something else would spring to mind. The stature seems to be collybioid and presumably the spore print would be pale. With those gills, it's not a Tricholoma, and Melanoleuca doesn't look right. As far as I can see it doesn't fit any alternative species in Xerula.

The gills do bring Megacollybia platyphylla to mind but the texture of the cap cuticle doesn't look quite right. That's as far as I have got.

Ken