Image of Ruby elfcup

Description:

Slo.: krlatna aica - Habitat: Hardwood forest, east inclined foot of a mountain, cretaceous clastic rock (flysh) bedrock, in shade, average temperature 8-10 deg C, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, elevation 465 m (1.530 feet), prealpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: buried rotten branches of broadleaved trees covered by a layer of rotten leaves. Place: Bovec basin, between the church St. Lenart and regional road Bovec- Predel pass, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC. Comments: Bright red cups of Sarcoscypha coccinea are usually the first 'fungal' promise of the coming spring and mushroom season in woods around Bovec. Depending on the year these mushrooms can appear loccaly in very large numbers. Some fruitbodies can be quite large, up to 5 cm in diameter and sometimes even more. They are vividly colored and very eye-catching on mostly gray-brown forest floor just after the snow melts. No doubt, one of the most beautiful cup fungi! There are two species known, which are morphologically indistinguishable: Sarcoscypha coccinea and Sarcoscypha austriaca. They can be reliably separated only microscopically. The dimensions of spores, and to some extent also their shape, and properties of very tiny hairs (if present!) covering other sterile surface of the fruitbodies are decisive for determination. It is believed that Sarcoscypha coccinea is much more common in Slovenia, therefore I believe the determination is most probably correct. However, microscopy hasn't been done; therefore one cannot exclude that my pictures show other option. Ref.: (1) http://www.mushroomexpert.com/sarcoscypha_coccinea.html (2) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.1. Verlag Mykologia (1984), p 122. (3) G. Medardi, Atlante fotografico degli Ascomiceti d'Italia, A.M.B. Centro Studi Micologici (2012) (in Italian with English keys), p 252. (4) R. Phillips, Mushrooms, Macmillan (2006), p 367.