Sarcoscypha austriaca

Description

Sarcoscypha austriaca is a saprobic fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae of the order Pezizales of Ascomycota. This species is found growing on fallen pieces of dead hardwood among mosses and leaf litter in damp habitats in winter and early spring. The fruiting body is cup-shaped with a scarlet smooth, shiny interior. The exterior is covered with a felted mass of short hairs in varying shades of white and pink and a stubby stem. The flesh is white and rubbery with a thin red layer lining the cup. The spore print is white and the spores are ellipsoidal with flattened ends and containing several oil droplets. On the outside of the cup the hairs are curly or corkscrew-shaped.

This species is found in Europe and the Northeast of North America where it can be separated from Sarcoscypha dudleyi on spore characteristics.

These features distinguishes this species from the rather similar Sarcoscypha coccinea and Sarcoscypha dudleyi.

Common names: Scarlet Elfcup, Pézize Écarlate And Scharlachroter Kelchbecherling.

Mushroom Identification

1. Ecology

   Saprobic on decaying hardwood sticks and logs (but sometimes the wood is buried and the mushrooms appear terrestrial); spring; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains. Red and Orange forms of Sarcoscypha austriaca growing on rotting Hazel.

2. Fruiting Body

   Cup-shaped to disc-shaped or irregular; 2 to 7 cm across; upper surface bright red, fading with age, bald, often becoming wrinkled with maturity (especially near the center); undersurface whitish to pinkish or orangish, downy; stem absent or rudimentary, colored like and continuous with the sterile surface; flesh thin, whitish; odor not distinctive.

3. Chemical Reactions

   KOH and iron salts negative on all surfaces.

4. Microscopic Features

   Spores 25-37 x 9.5-15 µ; ellipsoid to nearly football-shaped, with rounded or, not infrequently, flattened ends; typically with many small (< 3 µ) oil droplets; when fresh and viewed in a water mount sometimes appearing partially sheathed at the ends (with "polar caps"). Asci 8-spored. Paraphyses filiform; with orangish-red contents. Excipular surface with abundant hairs that are elaborately curved, twisted, and intertwined.

Look-Alikes

1. Sarcoscypha coccinea

   The Ruby Elfcup, is virtually indistinguishable via macroscopic characters; it has straightish (uncoiled) hairs on the outer (infertile) surface of the cup and narrower spores that do not produce conidial buds (asexual spores).

2. Aleuria aurantia

   The Orange Peel Fungus, is larger, orange rather than red, and grows on soil rather than on wood.

History

Described in 1884 by Austrian mycologist Günther Beck von Mannagetta und Lerchenau (1856 - 1931), when it was given the scientific name Peziza austriaca, this species was moved to the genus Sarcoscypha in 1907 by French mycologist Jean Louis Emile Boudier (1828 - 1920) and given its current scientific name Sarcoscypha austriaca.

The nominate (red) form became Sarcoscypha austriaca var. austriaca when, in 1999, Sarcoscypha austriaca var. lutea (a yellow-orange form - see below) was described by Italian mycologists S. Ruini and E. Ruedl.

Synonyms of Sarcoscypha austriaca include Peziza austriaca Beck.

The specific epithet austriaca means 'from Austria' and was chosen by the Austrian mycologist (Beck - see above) who first described this species scientifically.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Dan Molter (shroomydan) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Holger Krisp (CC BY 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Photo 4 - Author: Björn S... (CC BY-SA 2.0)