Sarcoscypha coccinea
Mem. Soc. Roy. Sci. Liege II. 14: 302. 1887.
Common Name: scarlet cup
Fruiting body 1-5 cm broad, 0.5-2 cm high, cupulate with a slightly inturned margin, cup interior (fertile surface) brilliant scarlet, margin whitish, cup exterior white, tomentose; stipe absent to 3 cm tall, 4-6 mm thick, tapering downwards.
Spores 24-35 x 10-14 µm elliptical, smooth, uniseriate, hyaline.
Scattered to gregarious on buried or fallen branches of hardwoods, especially oaks (Quercus); late winter and spring.
Questionable. Although insignificant in size, it is described as edible in some books; untried in our area.
Sarcoscypha coccinea is distinguished from other spring cup fungi by its relatively large size, a brilliant red hymenium, white cup exterior, and a lack of marginal hairs. The scarlet cup fruits late in the mushroom season, seldom before January.
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