Microstoma protractum
What You Should Know
Microstoma protractum is an inedible species of cup fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae. The fungus is found in Europe and North America, where it grows as a saprophyte on partially buried sticks and roots.
It was first described as a species of Peziza by Elias Magnus Fries in 1851. American mycologist Bessie B. Kanouse assigned it its current name in 1948.
Microstoma protractum Mushroom Identification
Fruiting Bodies
0.5 - 2.5 cm in diameter, inverted-pear-shaped or inverted-bell-shaped, first rounded, ovoid, closed, later open to cup-shaped, star-shaped breaking into 8 - 12 blades, with age rupture to saucer-shaped, on the stalk. The hymenial layer is smooth, bright red, fades with age, located on the inner surface of the bowl. The outer surface is sterile, hairy, whitish-reddish.
Stem
1 - 6 cm high, 0.2 - 0.5 cm in diameter, whitish, pale pink in the upper part, brownish in the lower part, smoothly passes into the bowl, deeply immersed in the soil, located on the black sclerotia.
Flesh
The flesh is strong, elastic, whitish.
Spore Print
White.
Asci
250-550 * 18-24 microns, cylindrical, 8 spores. Spores 36-40 * 15-17 microns, oblong-spindle-shaped or elliptical, unicellular, with 1 - 4 drops of oil, colorless, located at the top of the asca.
Habitat and Distribution
Grow in March, less often in November and during warm winters, on rotten branches of coniferous and deciduous trees, alone and in small groups.
Microstoma protractum Synonyms
Anthopeziza baccata (Fuckel) Wettst., 1885
Anthopeziza protracta (Fr.) Nannf., 1949
Anthopeziza winteri Wettst., 1885
Lachnea mirabilis (I.G.Borshch.) W.Phillips, 1890
Microstoma hiemale Bernstein, 1852typus
Peziza mirabilis I.G.Borshch., 1857
Peziza protracta Fr., 1851basionym
Plectania hiemalis (Bernstein) Seaver, 1928
Plectania protracta (Fr.) S.Imai, 1938
Plectania subfloccosa Hazsl., 1885
Sarcoscypha hiemalis (Bernstein) J.Schröt., 1893
Sarcoscypha protracta (Fr.) Sacc., 1889
Sclerotinia baccata Fuckel, 1870
Sclerotinia hiemalis (Bernstein) Fuckel, 1873
Scypharia hiemalis (Bernstein) Quél., 1886
Sources:
Photo 1 - Author: Piotr Wróblewski (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)
Photo 2 - Author: Piotr Wróblewski (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)
Photo 3 - Author: Piotr Wróblewski (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)
Photo 4 - Author: Piotr Wróblewski (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)
Photo 5 - Author: 2011-04-17_Microstoma_protractum_(Fries)_Kanouse_145033.jpg: (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)