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Cup Fungi

[ Ascomycetes . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

"Cup fungi" is not a very scientific term, but it holds together many mushrooms that are shaped more or less like cups, saucers, or goblets. In fact the cup-shaped mushrooms are very diverse, comprising several different families and genera in the Ascomycetes.

Some cups are easily identified, but the great majority are extremely difficult, requiring microscopic analysis. Brownish cups in the Pezizales (an order within the Ascomycetes that also includes the morels) are especially frustrating. Below are links to the various cup fungus pages at MushroomExpert.Com, a very incomplete key to cup fungi, and a references list for those who want to pursue cup fungus identification further.


Aleuria aurantia
Aleuria rhenana
Aleurodiscus oakesii [Basidiomycete]
Bisporella citrina
Bulgaria inquinans
Cheilymenia stercorea
Chlorociboria aeruginascens
Chlorociboria aeruginosa
Disciotis venosa
Galiella rufa
Gyromitra leucoxantha
Gyromitra perlata
Helvella acetabulum
Helvella corium
Helvella macropus
Helvella queletii
Hymenoscyphus calyculus
Hymenoscyphus fructigenus
Humaria hemisphaerica
Jafnea semitosta
Microstoma floccosa
Otidea leporina
Otidea onotica
Pachyella clypeata
Pachyella punctispora
Peziza ammophila
Peziza arvernensis
Peziza badioconfusa
Peziza domiciliana
Peziza repanda
Peziza succosa
Sarcoscypha  
   Sarcoscypha austriaca
   Sarcoscypha coccinea
   Sarcoscypha dudleyi
   Sarcoscypha occidentalis
Sarcosphaera coronaria
Scutellinia erinaceus
Scutellinia scutellata
Tarzetta bronca
Tarzetta catinus
Tarzetta cupularis
Urnula craterium

 

Aleuria aurantia.

Disciotis venosa

Peziza sp.

Peziza sp.

Cheilymenia stercorea


"Key" to 49 North American Cup Fungi  


"Key" is in quote marks because, as your high-school English teacher may have told you, quote marks are sometimes used to represent irony--as in, Mrs. Wilson was a "thrilling" English teacher. In other words, Mrs. Wilson wasn't so thrilling, and the key below isn't much of a key. (You might want to remember this next time you see one of those road-side fruit stands with spray-painted plywood signs advertising "Fresh" Peaches.)

In fact what the "key" below "identifies" is the cup fungi I have collected (or have been forced to study in order to identify the ones I've collected). Since my "experience" with cups is limited and my "expertise" is minimal, I hope you will take any "identification" provided by the "key" with a grain of salt. Now do you remember why you hated Mrs. Wilson?

Although I enjoy microscope work, I try to avoid it whenever possible when I am identifying mushrooms. However, cup fungus identification often requires a microscope--especially if one has collected one of the many brownish cups found in North American woods. Thus the key below delays using microscopic features for as long as possible--but does, inevitably, resort to them when the microscopic piper must be paid.

Many places in the key are still undeveloped; I apologize to readers whose cup fungi are not yet included.



1.Mushroom tiny or quite small, holding structures that look remarkably like "eggs" in a "bird's nest."

1.Mushroom not appearing like a bird's nest with eggs.
2


2.Cups when young growing partially underground (usually in clusters), the margin later peeling back in vaguely star-like rays; inner surface pale lilac to purplish when fresh; common in the Rocky Mountains and western North America, more rare in the east.

2.Not completely as above.
3


3.Growing in burned areas (burned forests, camp-fire pits, and so on).
4

3.Not growing in burned areas.
5


4.This portion of the key is not yet developed. For a few commonly collected species, see Geopyxis carbonaria, Peziza violacea, and Rhizina undulata.


5.Margin of cup with tiny hairs, reminiscent of eyelashes or fringe (a hand lens may be required)--and/or undersurface of cup hairy.
6

5.Margin of cup without eyelashes or fringe; undersurface of cup smooth, velvety, granular, finely fuzzy, pustulate (and so on) but not hairy.
15


6.Undersurface of cup with brown hairs that contrast with the paler surface underneath; upper surface smooth and whitish or pale bluish.
7

6.Not completely as above.
9

7.Cup 1-3 cm across at maturity.
8

7.Cup 2-7 cm across at maturity; usually with a ribbed pseudo-stem (often submerged in the ground) measuring up to about 2 x 2 cm; spores 25-30 µ long.


8.Stem absent; undersurface densely hairy, appearing more or less brown from the hairs; spores 20-25 µ long.

8.Pseudo-stem usually present (often submerged in the ground); undersurface sparsely hairy, appearing pale; spores 30-45 µ long.
Jafnea fusicarpa
(See Jafnea semitosta)


9.Cup bright red, goblet-shaped, fringed with prominent tufts of white hairs, about a centimeter across when mature; stem quite long and well developed.

9.Not as above.
10


10.Mature spores with oil droplets.
11

10.Mature spores without oil droplets.
12


11.Cups to 3 mm across; mature spores smooth.

11.Cups to 15 mm across; mature spores with prominent warts.


12.Upper surface brightly colored (red, orange, bright yellow, etc.) when fresh.
13

12.Upper surface not brightly colored when fresh (whitish, brownish, grayish, dull yellowish, etc.).
66


13.Hairs pale yellowish or, at the most, light brown; growing on dung or occasionally on plant debris or soil.
Cheilymenia theleboloides

13.Hairs dark brown; growing only on dung.
14


14.Mature cup usually over half a centimeter across; hairs not branching (under the microscope).
Cheilymenia coprinaria

14.Mature cup usually less than half a centimeter across; hairs along the margin not branching, but hairs farther down the cup's outer surface branching.


15.Cup with a well developed stem that is fairly long in proportion to the cup (not stubby or rudimentary).
16

15.Cup without a stem, or with a stubby or rudimentary stem.
23


16.Growing from sticks or (sometimes buried) woody debris in spring in eastern North America; goblet-shaped when young; inner/upper surface black; outer/under surface brown to black, usually scaly; stem black, tapered to base.

16.Not completely as above.
17


17.Mushroom medium-sized; stem whitish, with prominent ribs that extend far onto the undersurface of the cup (if ribs terminate before undersurface of cup or extend onto it for only a few mm, see Helvella queletii).
18

17.Not completely as above.
19


18.Ribs with sharp edges; upper surface brown to yellow-brown.

18.Ribs with blunt edges; upper surface grayish to grayish brown (without yellow tones).
Helvella costifera
at Cercle de Mycologie
(= H. griseoalba)


19.Cup tiny and bright red; growing from sticks or buried woody debris in hardwood forests east of the Rocky Mountains.
20

19.Not completely as above.
21


20.Mushroom goblet-shaped; outer surface covered with long, whitish hairs.

20.Mushroom saucer-shaped or cup-shaped; outer surface not hairy.


21.Cups minute (4 mm wide or less); growing on hickory shells, acorns, and other "nutty" debris; uniformly whitish to pale yellow.

21.Not completely as above.
22


22.This portion of the key is not yet developed. For a few commonly collected species, see Aleuria rhenana, Helvella macropus, Helvella corium, Helvella queletii, and Plectania nanfeldtii.


23.Growing on wood.
24

23.Growing on the ground (if "the ground" is actually your carpet or flooring, see Peziza domiciliana).
43


24.Flesh thick and gelatinous; upper surface drab orangish or reddish; outer surface dark brown or black; spores warted; growing in clusters on hardwood sticks and logs east of the Rocky Mountains.

24.Not completely as above.
25


25.Broadly attached to the wood so that only the extreme margin can be lifted; flesh somewhat gelatinous or rubbery.
26

25.Attached to the wood centrally, but not broadly; flesh fairly brittle.
29


26.Spores smooth.
27

26.Spores stippled or warted.
28


27.Mature cup less than 1 cm wide.
Pachyella babingtonii

27.Mature cup up to 5 cm wide.


28.Warts 1 µ or longer.
Pachyella adnata

28.Warts tiny (spores merely stippled in appearance).


29.Entire fruiting body blue to greenish blue; growing from greenish stained wood.
30

29.Not as above.
31


30.Spores 5-7 x 1-2 µ.

30.Spores 9-14 x 2-4 µ.


31.Upper surface bright red when fresh.
32

31.Upper surface otherwise colored.
35


32.Cup typically < 2 cm across; spores < 21 µ long; found east of the Rocky Mountains.

32.Cup larger; spores longer.
33


33.Found in the Pacific Northwest and California; spores usually unsheathed.

33.Found elsewhere; spores sheathed or not.
34


34.Mature spores with rounded ends; spores with several large (5-7 µ) oil droplets; spores when fresh and viewed in a water mount often encased by a full sheath; hairs on excipular surface not curling and twisted under the microscope.

34.At least some mature spores with flattened ends; spores with many oil droplets smaller than above; spores when fresh and viewed in a water mount lacking a full sheath but occasionally with "polar caps" (a sheathlike covering at each end); hairs on excipular surface curling and twisted under the microscope.


35.Cups bright yellow; under half a centimeter across.
36

35.Not completely as above.
39


36.Cup with a (proportionally) substantial stem; growing on small sticks or twigs.
37

36.Cup lacking a stem; growing on logs or stumps.
38


37.Growing on twigs of willows; spores 12.5-16 µ long; paraphyses not septate.
Hymenoscyphus conscriptum

37.Growing on twigs of other hardwoods; spores 16-24 µ long; paraphyses septate.


38.Cup 1-3 mm across; paraphyses with hyaline contents.

38.Cup .5-1.5 mm across; paraphyses filled with yellow droplets.


39.Tips of asci bluing in Melzer's reagent or IKI.
40

39.Tips of asci not bluing in iodine mounts.
42


40.Spores smooth, without oil droplets; upper surface brown, often wrinkled near the center; undersurface whitish and minutely fuzzy; cup usually flattening out with maturity.

40.Spores roughened or nearly reticulate.
41


41.Appearing in late spring or early summer in temperate areas; spores roughened but not reticulate, often developing smooth caps at each end.

41.Appearing in late summer and fall in temperate areas; spores nearly reticulate, not developing smooth caps at each end.
Peziza badia
at Roger's Mushrooms


42.This portion of the key is not yet developed . . .


43.Cup bright red; collector admits it could have been growing from buried wood, and only appeared to be "terrestrial."
32

43.Cup not bright red; truly terrestrial.
44


44.Cup yellow or orange overall.
45

44.Cup otherwise colored.
48


45.Margin of cup bruising and discoloring bluish to greenish; commonly collected from the Rocky Mountains westward in spring or early summer (rare or absent in eastern North America).

45.Not completely as above.
46


46.Cup bright orange; not usually split down one side or appearing truncated (chopped off); spores warted; paraphyses with rounded ends.

46.Cup dull orange or dull yellow; usually split down one side and/or appearing truncated; spores smooth; paraphyses with hooked ends.
47


47.Cup usually split down one side (often appearing like an erect rabbit ear) but not appearing truncated; inner surface usually with pinkish hints; spores 12-14 x 6-7 µ.

47.Cup sometimes split down one side, but usually appearing truncated (almost never appearing like an erect rabbit ear); inner surface without pinkish tints; spores 14-16 x 7-9 or 9-11 x 5.5-6.5 µ.
Otidea alutacea
at MykoWeb


48.Cup standing erect; usually split down one side and often appearing somewhat like a rabbit ear.
49

48.Cup not shaped as above.
52


49.Outer surface brown; inner surface orangish to pinkish or reddish; growing under hardwoods in eastern North America; spores 35-40 µ long.

49.Not completely as above.
50


50.Spores with one large oil droplet.

50.Spores with 2 or more oil droplets.
51


51.This portion of the key is not yet developed; it consists of brownish species of Otidea (in the sense of Kanouse, 1949). For a few commonly collected species, see Otidea onotica and Otidea alutacea.


52.Cup growing partially underground in sand dunes and on beaches; tips of asci bluing in Melzer's reagent or IKI; spores smooth, 14-16 x 10 µ.

52.Not completely as above.
53


53.Cup with a pale exterior and a brown to brownish upper surface; flesh brittle, when crushed exuding a juice that turns yellow on exposure to air (staining your fingers, the surfaces of the cup, or white paper); tips of asci bluing in Melzer's reagent or IKI; spores warted, 16-22 x 8-12 µ.

53.Not completely as above.
54


54.Tips of asci bluing in Melzer's reagent or IKI.
55

54.Tips of asci not bluing in Melzer's reagent or IKI.
59


55.Spores roughened or nearly reticulate.
56

55.Spores smooth.
58


56.Mature cup 3-8 cm across; appearing in late summer and fall in temperate areas; spores nearly reticulate, not developing smooth caps at each end.
Peziza badia
at Roger's Mushrooms

56.Not completely as above.
57


57.Mature cup 3-10 cm across; appearing in late spring or early summer in temperate areas; spores roughened but not reticulate, often developing smooth caps at each end.

57.Not completely as above.
58


58.This portion of the key is not yet developed . . .

59.Paraphyses with granular orangish to yellowish orange contents in a 2% KOH mount (cup-like species of Gyromitra).
60

59.Paraphyses not as above.
63


60.Spores in a water mount with blunt apiculi that feature "scooped-out" ends.

60.Spores in a water mount without apiculi or with pointed to blunt apiculi that do not appear scooped out.
61


61.Found in the Pacific Northwest; spores with two prominent oil droplets, 10-14.5 x 7-9.5 µ, very finely warted, lacking apiculi.
Gyromitra melaleucoides

61.Variously distributed; spores primarily with one prominent oil droplet (sometimes with 2-3 droplets), much longer than above, usually appearing smooth with light microscopy, with or without prominent apiculi.
62


62.Apiculi of mature spores pointed.

62.Apiculi absent or, if present, broadly rounded.
Gyromitra olympiana


63.Spores with homogeneous contents; mature cup often very wrinkled or veined, at least centrally.

63.Not completely as above.
64

64.Spores smooth and elliptical, with 2 oil droplets in a KOH mount; flesh pale; cups .5-4 cm across, usually remaining deeply cup-shaped throughout development; often with a rudimentary pseudo-stem (usually buried in the soil).
65
(Tarzetta s.l.)

64.Not completely as above.
68


65.Cup surfaces bright pink; usually growing in recently burned areas.
Rhodotarzetta rosea
= Tarzetta rosea

65.Cup surfaces not pink; usually growing in non-burned areas.
66


66.Mature cup under 2 cm across; paraphyses with rounded, subclavate, or subacute apices (not lobed or hydra-like).

66.Mature cup larger than above (2-4 cm across); paraphyses developing irregularly lobed or hydra-like tips.
67


67.Pseudo-stem usually present; paraphyses becoming irregularly lobed but not hydra-like; spores 20-24 µ long.

67.Pseudo-stem usually absent; paraphyses becoming irregularly lobed and developing hydra-like tips; heterosporous (spores falling into two size groups: 20-24 µ long and 12-14 µ long).


68.This portion of the key is not yet developed . . .


References


[For species of Gyromitra, Helvella, and Sarcoscypha, see the reference lists on the linked pages.]


Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms demystified: A comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. 959 pp.

Baral, H. O. & G, Marson (2000). Monographic revision of Gelatinopsis and Calloriopsis (Calloriopsideae, Leotiales). In: Associazione Micologica Bresadola, ed. Micologia 2000. Brescia, Italy: Grafica Sette, 23-46.

Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1984). Fungi of Switzerland: A contribution to the knowledge of the fungal flora of Switzerland. Volume 1 Ascomycetes. Transl. Walters, V. L. & Walters, J. F. Lucern: Verlag Mykologia. 310 pp.

Coulter, E. (1998). Trial field key to the Pezizaceae in the Pacific Northwest. Retrieved from the Pacific Northwest Key Council Web site: http://www.svims.ca/council/Pezizc.htm

Denison, W. C. (1959). Some species of the genus Scutellinia. Mycologia 51: 605-635.

Denison, W. C. (1964). The genus Cheilymenia in North America. Mycologia 56: 718-737.

Dennis, R. W. G. (1968). British Ascomycetes. Stuttgart: J. Cramer. 455 pp.

Dissing, H. (1981). Four new species of Discomycetes (Pezizales) from west Greenland. Mycologia 73: 263-273.

Dissing, H. & D. H. Pfister (1981). Scabropezia, a new genus of Pezizaceae (Pezizales). Nordic Journal of Botany 1: 102-108.

Dixon, J. R. (1975). Chlorosplenium and its segregates. II. The genera Chlorociboria and Chloencoelia. Mycotaxon 1: 193-237.

Elliott, M. E. & M. Kaufert (1974). Peziza badia and Peziza badio-confusa. Canadian Journal of Botany 52: 467-472.

Hansen, K., et al. (2001). Phylogenetics of the Pezizaceae, with an emphasis on Peziza. Mycologia 93: 958-990.

Harrington, F. A. et al. (1999). Phylogenetic studies within the Pezizales. I. 18S rRNA sequence data and classification. Mycologia 91: 41-50.

Holst-Jensen, A. et al. (1997). Nuclear rDNA phylogeny of the Sclerotiniaceae. Mycologia 89: 885-899.

Kanouse, B. B. (1949). Studies in the genus Otidea. Mycologia 41: 660-677.

Kanouse, B. B. (1950). A study of Peziza bronca Peck. Mycologia 42: 497-502.

Kimbrough, J. W. (1970). Current trends in the classification of Discomycetes. Botanical Review 36: 91-161.

Korf, R. P. (1954). Discomyceteae Exsiccatae, Fasc. I. Mycologia 46: 837-841.

Korf, R. P. (1960). Jafnea, a new genus of the Pezizaceae. Nagaoa 7: 3-8.

Korf, R. P. (1972). Synoptic key to the genera of the Pezizales. Mycologia 64: 937-994.

Landvik, S., et al. (1997). Towards a subordinal classification of the Pezizales (Ascomycota): Phylogenetic analyses of SSU rDNA sequences. Nordic Journal of Botany 17: 403-418.

Larson, H. (1980). Key to the genera of the operculate cup-fungi (Pezizales) of the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain region. Retrieved from the Pacific Northwest Key Council Web site: http://www.svims.ca/council/Peziza.htm

Maguire, R. (1982). Trial field key to the species of Sarcosomataceae in the Pacific Northwest. Retrieved from the Pacific Northwest Key Council Web site: http://www.svims.ca/council/Sarcos.htm

Norman, J. E. & Egger, K. N. (1999). Molecular phylogenetic analysis of Peziza and related genera. Mycologia 91: 820-829.

Paden, J. W. (1972). Imperfect states and the taxonomy of the Pezizales. Persoonia 6: 405-414.

Pfister, D. H. (1973). The psilopezioid fungi. IV. The genus Pachyella (Pezizales). Canadian Journal of Botany 51: 2009-2023.

Pfister, D. H. (1979). A monograph of the genus Wynnea (Pezizales, Sarcoscyphaceae). Mycologia 71: 144-159.

Pfister, D. H. (1979). Type studies in the genus Peziza. VI. Species described by C. H. Peck. Mycotaxon 8: 333-338.

Pfister, D. H. (1979). Type studies in the genus Peziza. VII. Miscellaneous species described by M. J. Berkeley and M. A. Curtis. Mycotaxon 8: 339-346.

Pfister, D. H. (1981). The psilopezioid fungi. VIII. Additions to the genus Pachyella. Mycotaxon 13: 457-464.

Pfister, D. H. (1987). Peziza phyllogena: An older name for Peziza badioconfusa. Mycotaxon 79: 634.

Pfister, D. H. (1995). The psilopezioid fungi. IX. Pachyella harbospora, a new species from Brazil. Mycotaxon 54: 393-396.

Ramamurthi, C. S. et al. (1957). A revision of the North American species of Chlorociboria (Sclerotiniaceae). Mycologia 49: 854-863.

Schumacher, T. (1990). The genus Scutellinia (Pyronemataceae). Copenhagen: Opera Botanica. 107 pp.

Seaver, F. J. (1928). The North American cup-fungi (operculates). New York: Hafner Publishing Co., Inc. 377 pp.

Seaver, F. J. (1942). The North American cup fungi (inoperculates). New York: Hafner Publishing Co., Inc. 428 pp.

Smith, A. H., Smith, H. V. & Weber, N. S. (1981). How to know the non-gilled mushrooms. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown. 324 pp.

Tedersoo, L., K. Hansen, B. A. Perry & R. Kjoller (2006). Molecular and morphological diversity of pezizalean ectomycorrhiza. New Phytologist 170: 581-596.

van Brummelen, J. (1967). A world-monograph of the genera Ascobolus and Saccobolus (Ascomycetes, Pezizales). Persoonia suppl. 1. 260 p.

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Weber, N. S. et al. (1997). Studies on western American Pezizales. Collecting and describing ascomata--macroscopic features. Mycotaxon 61: 153-176.

Winka, K. (2000). Phylogenetic relationships within the Ascomycota based on 18S rDNA sequences. Ph.D. thesis, Umea University, Sweden. 25 pp.

Yao, Y. -J. & B. M. Spooner (1996). Notes on British species of Scutellinia. Mycological Research 100: 859-865.

Yao, Y. -J. & Spooner, B. M. (2002). Notes on British species of Tazzetta (Pezizales). Mycological Research 106: 1243-1246.

Zhuang, W. Y. & Korf, R. P. (1986). A monograph of the genus Aleurina Massee (= Jafneadelphus Rifai). Nycotaxon 26: 361-400.



Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2007, August). Cup fungi. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/cups.html

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