When you come across this attractive cup fungus during the colder months of the year, you might think that it will be easy to identify but you would be wrong. It could be one of two virtually indistinguishable species.
Whichever species you have found, scattered light inside the cup can look like there is a tiny furnace deep within.
Sarcoscypha austriaca (Scarlet Elf-cup) and Sarcoscypha coccinea (Ruby Elf-cup) can only be separated with any certainty by microscopic examination of spores and hairs.
As a man who does not possess a microscope, I suspect that I will continue to lump both species under one heading.
Scarlet Elf-cup.
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