Phil Bendle Collection:Scutellinia scutellata (Eyelash cup fungus)

Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Pezizomycetes
Order: Pezizales
Family: Pyronemataceae
Genus: Scutellinia
Species: S. scutellata
Binomial name: Scutellinia scutellata
Synonym: Patella scutellata, Sörtés csészegomba
Common name: Eyelash cup fungus

Scutellinia scutellata is a small, widespread, cosmopolitan, saprobic, ascomycetous fungus that grows on humus-rich damp soil, damp rotten wood and other well-decayed vegetation. It grows gregariously or in clusters during spring through autumn.
The sporocarp (fruiting body) is cup-shaped and can be minute to 1.5 cm across. The fertile surface (inner surface) is smooth and is scarlet red to bright orange in colour.
The matt outer surface is sterile and is covered in tiny dark hairs. What makes the Scutellinia fungi species sporocarps special is a fringe of eyelash-like dark hairs around the margin of each cap. The sporocarp has no stem and is attached to the soil by mycelial threads. The shallow cups become almost flat when fully mature. They are initially round in shape but often develop irregular margins as they push up against adjacent sporocarps.

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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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