Species details

Eyelash cup

Scutellinia scutellata

Inedible

Description

A tiny scarlet-red cup fungus with characteristic long dark-brown hairs around the margin.

Identification features

Fruitbody about 0.5–2 cm wide, initially almost spherical, later shallow cup-shaped to disc-like. The upper surface is smooth and scarlet-red, while the margin and outside are densely covered with long brown hairs.

Identification checklist

The key combination is the tiny bright-red cup and long dark hairs around the entire margin.

How to separate similar species

Several similar orange-red Scutellinia species exist; gobe.si notes that some are reliably separable only microscopically. AI confidence should be lower without a macro view of the hairs.

Habitat

Grows from spring to autumn in shady damp woodland on decaying woody remains of deciduous and coniferous trees, often in groups.