Part 59

~Crucibulum laeve~ (de Candolle) Kambly

Fruit-body: diameter 8-12 mm.

Description:

Fruit-body: ochraceous brown or sand-colour, downy and then smooth, truncate, cup-shaped with the cup at first closed by a yellowish membrane which finally splits to expose a group of pale brown or dingy whitish, circular, lens-shaped ‘eggs’ (peridioles), scattered on a shiny pale ochraceous interior.

Spores: medium-sized, in packets within ‘eggs’, ellipsoid, hyaline, smooth and 8-10 × 4-6 µm in size.

Habitat & Distribution: Common in crowded groups on dead twigs, fern stems, straw and wheat stubble.

General Information: Cyathus differs from Crucibulum in the more complex fruit-body which consists of three layers, and the peridioles forming on distinct stalks. Two species are frequently seen: Cyathus striatus Persoon has a grey, fluted inner surface to the cup and strongly hairy red-brown outer surface; the spores measure 16-22 × 9-10 µm. Cyathus olla Persoon has a smooth, shiny, grey surface and minutely silky, yellowish grey outer surface. C. striatus is found on twigs, and about dead stumps; C. olla is more frequent in gardens on herbaceous debris and dead pieces of perennial flowers--or even in plant pots.

~Sphaerobolus stellatus~ Persoon is more distantly related and grows on decaying leaves, bracken fronds, partially buried twigs and dung. It is an intriguing fungus because it possesses a remarkable spore-dispersal mechanism. The inner layer of the fruit-body when ripe suddenly turns inside out catapulting the inner spore-mass to distances of anything up to 4,200 mm, that is a distance of 1,000 times the size of the fruit-body. The fruit-body is externally whitish or pale yellow, but this layer splits into lobes like a star exposing the bright orange inner surface and pale spore-mass.

Illustrations: Crucibulum laeve--LH 223; WD 111⁷. Cyathus striatus--LH 223; WD 111⁹. Sphaerobolus stellatus--LH 223; WD 111⁵.

E. CUP FUNGI AND ALLIES

General Notes.

The Ascomycetes differ from all the other fungi so far dealt with in that the spores develop enclosed in a microscopic envelope or sac--called the ascus. Usually eight spores are produced in each ascus and they are often dispersed violently into the air. Elf-cups and morels are typical Ascomycetes, but the group also includes innumerable minute forms of the microscopic fungi, small discs, minute flask-like structures, some of which are parasitic on leaves and stems of higher plants. In number the large species of Ascomycetes are few when compared with the others and therefore can only be given but a mention in the present account. When collected the Ascomycetes can be distinguished from the Basidiomycetes by simply examining a slice of the spore-producing tissue where the tell-tale asci will be seen (see p. 21). If the fruit-body is placed in a tin when collected and opened in a warm room all the mature asci explode at once producing a cloud of spores visible in the air immediately over the fruit-body.

~Aleuria aurantia~ (Fries) Fuckel

Orange-peel fungus or Scarlet elf-cup

Fruit-body: diameter 25-50 mm.

Description:

Fruit-body: cup-shaped then undulating and becoming flattened, irregular, sometimes split and lacking a stem.

Inner surface: bright orange.

Outer surface: whitish and minutely downy.

Flesh: thin and white.

Spores: very long, ellipsoid, ornamented with a coarse network which projects at each end, and 17-24 × 9-11 µm in size; eight contained in an elongate, cylindric ascus.

Habitat & Distribution: Common on bare soil in woods and open spaces, on road verges, between stone sets and on lawns.

~Peziza repanda~ Persoon

Elf-cup

Fruit-body: diameter 20-50 mm.

Description: Plate 67.

Fruit-body: cup-shaped with white, crenulate margin, becoming expanded and undulating, and lacking a stem.

Inner surface: light chestnut brown.