About this fungus
Scarlet Elfcup is a fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A brilliant scarlet cup on damp fallen hardwood, often partly buried in moss or leaf litter during winter or early spring.
What to check
The smooth fertile surface is bright red, while the outside is paler and finely felted. A short stem may be buried in litter. Reliable separation from Scarlet Cup, Sarcoscypha coccinea, requires microscopy of the outer hairs and mature spores; photographs and red colour alone cannot confirm this species.
Variation
Cups may be shallow or deeply bowl-shaped, with margins becoming split or irregular. The red surface can fade with age, and rare pale forms occur.
Lookalikes
Sarcoscypha coccinea is essentially identical in the field. Sarcoscypha occidentalis and other regional scarlet cups differ in distribution, size, stem or microscopic details. Treat a photographed find as Sarcoscypha species unless microscopy supports a species name.
Habitat and range
Saprotrophic on fallen hardwood twigs and branches, often willow, alder, maple, hazel or similar broadleaved wood in damp moss and litter. Fruiting is most conspicuous in cool months.
Food safety
Edibility is uncertain or disputed.
Photographs
Dan Molter / CC BY-SA 3.0
H. Krisp / CC BY 3.0Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: