The mushrooms in this species cluster are in a state of taxonomic flux (see below), but whether there are few or many species involved, they are easily identified by their white spore print, slender stature, greasy-looking and frequently somewhat wrinkled caps, and the very distinctive slender tap roots that extend into the ground. This last feature will be missed, of course, if you do not look for it. As a general rule of thumb it's best to dig up the base of any gilled mushroom you plan to try identifying; see Collecting Mushrooms for Study for more information.

Description (Xerula radicata):

Ecology: Saprobic on decaying debris of hardwoods--but not typically growing on logs or stumps, unless they are well decomposed; usually terrestrial; spring through fall; fairly widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains.

Cap: 2.5-12 cm, convex to bell-shaped when young, becoming broadly convex to plane in age and typically retaining a blunt point; smooth or, more often, wrinkled and puckered; greasy in normal weather conditions; dark brown to grayish brown; the margin incurved when young, sometimes uplifted in maturity.

Gills: Attached to the stem or notched; almost distant, or close; whitish; thick.

Stem: 5-25 cm long; .5-1.5 cm thick; typically tapering to apex; white above, colored like the cap below; rather stiff; smooth; with a long, tapered tap root extending underground; the tap root sometimes bruising rusty brown.

Flesh: Whitish, thin.

Taste: Mild; odor not distinctive.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 12-18 x 9-12 µ; smooth; inamyloid.

REFERENCES: (Fries) Singer, 1936. (Smith, 1949; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991). Herb. Kuo 05169505, 06279501, 06170202, 06080302.

What a taxonomic mess! Formerly known as Oudesmansiella radicata (and, before that, as Collybia radicata), this relatively easy-to-identify mushroom has been "split," "lumped," and reclassified all over hell and gone. What was formerly a variety, Oudesmansiella radicata var. furfuracea, has been elevated to Xerula furfuracea, characterized by its furfuraceous stem (like the stems in the illustrations), and a spore size range of 14-16 x 9.5-11 µ (unlike the illustrated mushrooms, whose spores are larger). Xerula megalospora, according to Roger Phillips, has spores 18-23 x 10-14 µ, a paler, nearly white cap, and a smooth stem. Xerula rubrobrunnescens has spores 13.5-16 x 8-9 µ, and has rust colored gill edges that bruise brown. Spore size ranges for plain-old Xerula and Oudesmansiella radicata are typically in the neighborhood of 12-18 x 9-12 µ (Smith, Smith & Weber, 1979; Arora, 1986; Fungi of Poland, 2002--link below). Arora mentions Oudesmansiella longipes as a "slightly smaller species with a dry cap and much smaller spores . . . in the Rocky Mountains on hardwoods such as aspen" (220). Halling reports Xerula steffenii from Costa Rica, with round, spiny spores.