Tag Archives: Scarlet elfcup

Elvish beauty

09 Tuesday Feb 2021

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As I walked through a local woodland yesterday, in light sleet and a biting wind, I was seduced by these gorgeous elfcups, punctuating the dull greens and dirty browns with their glorious pops of bright red.

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And there were lots of them: tucked under draping fern fronds, nestled amongst lush mosses, almost every rotting log and every broken branch had its cup of scarlet (or ruby) red.

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I’m not sure if anyone has ever checked, microscopically, to determine whether the elfcups in these woodlands are Scarlet (Sarcoscypha austriaca) or Ruby (Sarcoscypha coccinea).

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And, though it would certainly be good to add them to the local biodiversity records, it was enough yesterday to simply feast my eyes on their magical elvish beauty.

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10/366 In my cups

10 Friday Jan 2020

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It seems appropriate that I should be ‘in my cups’ on a Friday night, the traditional night at the end of the working week for downing an alcoholic beverage or three. But, in my case, I neither work nor drink, and my ‘cups’ are fungi, Scarlet elfcups to be precise. As these are one of my favourite species of fungi I’ve blogged about them several times before and explained, in a blog back in 2017, how I know these are Scarlet, not the less common Ruby elfcups. They are always a joy to find, and they recur at this particular site every year.

(Though, as you’ll see in that previous blog, I was excited to learn how to identify fungi using microscopy, I didn’t continue with it. SEWBReC moved to an out-of-town location so it would now be a two-bus ninety-minute journey to their office, and I didn’t want the expense of buying my own microscope.)

My first microscope success!

08 Wednesday Feb 2017

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I’ve blogged about Scarlet elfcups before (here and here) but this post is a little different. A few days ago I talked about dipping my toes into the waters of fungal microscopy (and thanks to those of you who were concerned that I might end up with Athlete’s foot in the process!). Yesterday, I made my first fungus identification on my own … small steps but I’m chuffed!

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As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, there are two red elfcups, Scarlet (Sarcoscypha austriaca) and Ruby (Sarcoscypha coccinea), and it’s impossible to tell them apart without microscopic examination. There are two distinguishing features: the spore shape and the shape of the hairs that cover the outer surface of the cups. In Scarlet elfcups, the ends of the spores are flattened, almost square and the hairs are curly (as shown below left) whereas, in Ruby elfcups, the spores are more elliptical and the hairs are straight – sorry, no photos of those as Ruby elfcups are not that common and the specimen I examined today turned out to be a Scarlet.

Many thanks to SEWBReC for letting me use their microscope and gear for this identification and to Amy Hicks for taking the photos. Also, thanks to Mary Gillham Archives Project Officer Al and volunteer John for bringing me the elfcup present back from a local nature reserve.

Scarlet elfcups

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

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It’s elfcup fruiting time! There’s a spot in one of my local woodlands where these vibrant Scarlet elfcups (Sarcoscypha austriaca) grow in profusion so I made sure to head that way on yesterday’s wander, and I was not disappointed. In their hundreds, these little beauties are pushing up through the dense moss that covers the rotting branches and logs on the forest floor.

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I blogged about these gorgeous fungi last year and noted then that there are two species of red elfcups, the Scarlet (Sarcoscypha austriaca) and the Ruby (Sarcoscypha coccinea). They can only be differentiated, one from the other, through microscopic examination, but I know that the elfcups in my favoured spot are the Scarlet variety as a friend very kindly checked them for me. My mission now is to find the Ruby.