brettpim

Also good fits from bugguide:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/447039
http://bugguide.net/node/view/482533

How about Phylloteras cupella:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/362915

Currently the gills are covered by the partial veil which is the white skirt connecting the broken stem to the cap edge in your third picture.

I think theses are either Coprinus comatus (The Shaggy Mane), Chlorophyllum rhacodes (Shaggy Parasol), or Chlorophyllum molybdites (False parasol). You will be able to confirm the first if the edges of the cap turn black, inky and curl up. This will not happen in either of the latter two but when they mature, C. rhacodes has a white spore print and C. molybdites has a green spore print and green gills. Note that C. molybdites is toxic.

this organism also resembles oak galls from this page:

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/...

I thought of fungus too but I have not been able to find a fungus description resembling this. One of the things which suggest the wasp gall was that each cup has a centered bump at the point of attachment which resembles those of jumping galls in the link I posted and also here:

http://www.bioimages.org.uk/html/r162742...

Having now looked at many images of jumping oak galls I do agree that my picture only resembles a very few. I am happy to change this to a fungus if we can find a good candidate

I think Potentilla indica is correct. It was too late in the season to see flowers so I cannot confirm their colour. These were quite dense like a ground cover.

No it did not look that. The surface was porous with very small pores and had distinct amber droplets on its surface. I did not touch it but my guess, from experience (I have seen similar things before) it that it was woody and hard.