Southern Marsh Orchids
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Scarlet Elf Cup ?
Returning to Creigiau after a walk around Pentyrch, taking in Craig-y-Parc and Ty'n y Coed, and noticed small pockets of these brightly coloured fungi on the side of the path. A brief internet search suggests Scarlet Elf Cup, Sarcoscypha coccinea - confirmation/correction would be appreciated.
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There are two Sarcosypha speceis that tend to be called Scarlet Elf Cup: S. coccinea and S. austriaca. According to the books, it is possible to tell them apart by examining the minute hairs they have in the outside of the cups, but you need mginfication of at least x20 to do so. If the hairs are straight it is probably coccinea and if they a curled, then it will probably be austriaca.
ReplyDeleteEvery specimen I ave examined has turned out to be S. austiaca and apparently reflects the national picture, with austraca beeing more common than coccinea. I hope this helps, Howard.
Thanks Mark, that's very useful. I have looked on-line and can see what you mean by the hairs on the outer surface. The photos were taken on a small compact camera, so I'll go back along the path and find them again and take some shots with the SLR and maybe take a sample to have a look at home.
ReplyDeleteManaged to get some clearer photos but still unable to resolve the hairs on the outer cap. Probably need a low power microscope.
ReplyDeleteNote that SEWBReCord only offers S. austriaca as an option for Scarlet Elfcup.
That's not to say you couldn't enter a record of Sarcoscypha coccinea into SEWBReCORD if you so wished - just that the common name isn't linked to that species in the iRecord species dictionary (rightly or wrongly!).
DeleteAccording to the Collins Fungi Guide, by Buczacki, Shields and Ovenden, the common name for S. coccinea is Ruby Elfcup.
ReplyDeleteThanks Both. I have now logged this as plain Sarcoscypha.
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