Sarcoscypha dudleyi & Sarcoscypha austriaca

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by Michael Kuo

This beautiful scarlet cup fungus is often found by morel hunters in the spring. It is widely distributed in hardwood forests east of the Rocky Mountains, growing from rotting wood, and it provides an appealing contrast to the tans and browns of the springtime forest floor.

Field guides typically treat this mushroom as "Sarcoscypha coccinea," though that species is actually found only in the Pacific Northwest. Sarcoscypha dudleyi and Sarcoscypha austriaca are the eastern species--but separating them, unfortunately, requires a microscope. See the gory details below, under "Microscopic Features."

The edibility of Sarcoscypha dudleyi and Sarcoscypha austriaca is not very well documented, though they are probably (probably) not poisonous. I do not recommend them for the table.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic on decaying hardwood sticks and logs; early spring; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains.

Fruiting Body: Cup shaped, 2 to 5 cm. broad; upper surface scarlet red, fading with age, smooth; under surface whitish, with tiny hairs (use a hand lens); stem absent or rudimentray, up to 3 cm, colored like and continuous with the sterile surface; flesh thin.

Microscopic Features: Sarcoscypha dudleyi: Spores 25-33 x 12-14 µ; elliptical, with rounded ends; typically with several to many oil droplets; when fresh, entirely sheathed. Sarcoscypha austriaca: Spores 29-36 x 12-15 µ; elliptical, with slightly flattened ends; typically with several to many oil droplets; when fresh not entirely sheathed, but with small "polar caps" sheathing each end.

REFERENCES: Sarcoscypha austriaca: (Beck ex Saccardo, 1889) Boudier, 1907. Sarcoscypha dudleyi: (Peck, 1894) Baral, 1984. (Harrington, 1990; Lincoff, 1992; Horn, Kay & Abel, 1993; Barron, 1999; Roody, 2003; Baral, 2006; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 04239501, 05249703JDM, 05230507, 05100601, 03100701.

Further Online Information:

"Sacroscypha coccinea" at Tom Volk's Fungi
Sarcoscypha austriaca at Fungi of Poland

Spores of Sarcoscypha dudleyi

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2002, May). Sarcoscypha dudleyi. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/sarcoscypha_dudleyi.html