I would like to thank Irene Draper for drawing my attention to the presence of this winter/early spring species. The vernacular name can be found in older fungus guides applied to Sarcoscypha coccinea which prefers alkaline sites & is far less common. It is now more commonly applied to S. auatriaca which is found in particularly damp areas, on rotting moss covered maples, sycamore, hazel, alder & willow, usually in small groups, & + trooping or tufted. The fruit body is initially goblet shaped, progressively expanding to form a shallow bowl, the inner surface is scarlet, smooth, with a margin that is usually inrolled & that may split as it expands.
Goblets vary from 10 to 50mm across, expanding to 80mm. The outer surface of pale pink hues becomes scurfy, due to its felt like texture, white hairs can be observed under magnification that have been described as being twisted in a corkscrew fashion. The stem varies in length but is usually short & white, being attached to a rotting wood substrate even when apparently emerging from soil. The flesh is tough, with a hue somewhere between clay pink & vinaceous buff.
The colourless spores are elongated-ellipsoid, smooth, transparent, have no cross wall and contain a mass of oil droplets. The asci, are cylindrical, transparent, support 8 spores, arranged in a single row & budding smaller secondary spores are often present. The budding secondary spores are highlighted by an arrow head in the image below.
The asci forms the structure in which the spores are formed within flask & cup fungi (Ascomycota). The shafted arrow above catches the moment spores are being ejected with what appears to be propellant gas, the bubbles following on behind.
This species has been found at Yateley’s Royal Oak Valley.
Photography Copyright retained by Ken Crick.
References
Buczacki, S, Shields, C & Ovenden, D 2012, Collins Fungi Guide. Collins pp640
Courtecuisse, R. & Duhem, B.1995. Mushrooms & Toadstools of Britain & Europe, Harper Collins. pp480.
Jordan, M. 2004. The encyclopedia of Fungi of Britain & Europe. Frances Lincoln Ltd. pp384.
Keizer, G. 2007. The complete encyclopedia of mushrooms, Rebo International. pp286.
Laessoe, T. 1998. Mushrooms, Dorling Kindersley. pp304.
Laessoe, T. Petersoen 2020. Fungi of temperate Europe vol. 1 & 2 Princeton University Press. pp 1715
Overall A. 2017, Fungi mushrooms & toadstools of parks, gardens, heaths & woodlands. Self published. pp567
Pacioni, G. 1985. The Macdonald Encyclopedia of Mushrooms and Toadstools, Macdonald Books. pp511.
Phillips, R. 2006. Mushrooms, Pam Macmillan. pp384.