Species details
Scarlet elfcup
Sarcoscypha austriaca
Extra caution required
Photo: Holleday · CC BY 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A bright red cup-shaped spring fungus with a pale outer surface, growing on dead twigs.
Identification features
The inner cup is smooth and red, while the outer surface is paler and finely hairy. Reliable separation from related elfcups often requires microscopy.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A bright red cup-shaped spring fungus with a pale outer surface, growing on dead twigs. The inner cup is smooth and red, while the outer surface is paler and finely hairy. Reliable separation from related elfcups often requires microscopy. Typical habitat: On dead, partly buried hardwood twigs in damp woodland and beside streams.
Detailed features
- Cap
- The fruitbody is cup- to shallow bowl-shaped, about 2–5 cm wide; the inner surface is vivid scarlet to orange-red, the outside paler and finely hairy.
- Hymenophore
- The spore-bearing surface is the smooth vivid red inner face of the cup; there are no gills or tubes.
- Stem
- Short, about 1–3 cm long and 0.2–0.4 cm thick, whitish; often partly buried and poorly visible.
- Flesh
- Thin, brittle, red to orange-yellow, without conspicuous colour change.
- Smell
- No strong smell.
- Spore print
- Colourless to whitish.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 2–5 cm
- Stem height
- 1–3 cm
- Stem diameter
- 0,2–0,4 cm
Habitat
On dead, partly buried hardwood twigs in damp woodland and beside streams.
Fruiting period
January, February, March, April, May
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Saprotrophic
- Substrate
- Dead hardwood
- Soil
- Moist
- Notes
- A saprotroph on dead, often partly buried hardwood branches in damp woodland, beside streams and in shaded places.
Distribution
- Notes
- A widespread European winter-to-spring species of damp woodland habitats.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Sarcoscypha coccinea, Sarcoscypha jurana. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Sarcoscypha coccinea
Scarlet elf cup is macroscopically almost identical; reliable separation often requires microscopic examination of hairs and spores.
Interesting facts
Did you know? It is one of the most conspicuous winter fungi: vivid red cups often appear while most larger mushrooms are still absent.