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Strangely, the Bird’s Nest family (Nidulariaceae) is in the same order as gilled mushrooms, Agaricales. The “nest” is a cup-like structure that holds the “eggs” which are sacs of spores called peridioles. Species in the genera Crucibulum and Cyathus rely on the momentum provided by falling raindrops into the cup to “eject” the eggs from the nest. Attached to the base of each egg is a cord called a “funiculus” that disconnects from the cup as the egg is launched. The momentum of this snap frays the end of the cord, allowing it to stick to surrounding vegetation, tethering the egg and breaking it open to disperse the spores. The idea behind this “ejection” method is to disperse spores onto vegetation that will be eaten by herbivores. They can grow on wood, most often mulch or woodchips, but they can also grow on dung after passing through an animal’s digestive system. There are lots of ways that dung-loving fungi find ways to disperse their spores onto vegetation to achieve this, including the Hat Thrower or Dung Cannon (Pilobolus crystallinus) – here’s a video. We have not seen it but there is another genus called Nidaria of Bird’s Nest Fungi which don’t use the cord dispersal method or have cup-like nests. They still rely on the force of a raindrop, but their eggs are covered in gel and are dispersed from a puffball-like sac instead of a cup. They usually disperse more, smaller lentil-like eggs.
Cup Fungi
Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantia)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: uncertain, was thought to be saprophytic but could be mycorrhizal; found on the ground, often on disturbed soil like road cuts and trails; early summer to fall
Fruiting body: medium sized; cup-shaped to flattened disc; bright orange inner or upper surface; outside surface fuzzy at first; no stem
Look-alikes: Similar to the Scarlet Elf Cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca) but is orange.
Scarlet Elf Cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca)
Notes: synonym Sarcoscypha dudleyi
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; one or a few on smaller deciduous wood; spring but sometimes winter or late fall
Fruiting body: medium sized; cup-shaped; bright red, smooth inner surface and paler pink-orange, hairy underside; margin might curl inward; no stem
Look-alikes: The Stalked Scarlet Cup (Sarcoscypha occidentalis) has a longer stalk, which is whiter and up to one inch long; Shaggy Scarlet Cup (Microstoma floccosum) is red on the inner and outer surface, and has wooly white hairs on the outside and around the rim.
Yellow Fairy Cups or Lemon Drops (Calycina citrina)
Notes: synonyms are Calycella citrina or Calycina citrina
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; grows in large groups on coniferous and deciduous wood, often barkless; summer to fall
Fruiting body: 1-4mm across; can be shaped like a cup or a saucer; it can be stalked, usually when cup-shaped; bright yellow; smooth
Look-alikes: Dacrymyces stillatus forms small blobs, not cups or discs; Bisporella sulfurina is even smaller, around 1mm and often growing on carbon balls or other crusty black fungi; if the stalk is very well defined and it’s growing on another substrate it could be a species of Hymenoscyphus.
Eyelash Cups (Scutellinia scutellata)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; large clusters on wet, well-rotted wood
Fruiting body: 0.5-1cm wide; broadly cup-shaped with a rim of black hairs which look like eyelashes; no stem
Look-alikes: Scutellinia erinaceus is smaller (1-2mm wide) and can be more yellow – potentially pictured last, not sure without scale; Scutellinia umbrarum is larger but grows on the ground, not wood.
Stalked Hairy Fairy Cup (Lachnum virgineum)
Notes: uncommon, this photo is from the Berkshires
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic
Fruiting body: dense white hairs on the outer surface and smooth on the inner, spore-bearing surface
Look-alikes:
Purple Jellydisc (Ascocoryne sarcoides)
Notes: This species has two forms. The asexual, or anamorphic stage, looks like a brain-like blob of jelly (not pictured). While the sexual form, the teleomorphic stage, still has a gelatinous texture but is shaped like a cup or a disc with raised edges.
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; on well-decayed hardwood
Fruiting body: disc-shaped cup with a smooth upper side and paler, finely hairy underside
Look-alikes:
Green Elf Cup or Green Stain (Chlorociboria sp.)
Notes: more often the green-stained wood is seen than the fruiting body of this fungus
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; on deciduous wood, especially oak and beech; summer and fall
Fruiting body: turquoise, disc-shaped cup with a smooth upper side and paler underside
Look-alikes:
Hymenoscyphus sp.
Notes: At first, I thought these were Yellow Fairy Cups (Bisporella citrina), which usually grow on well-decayed wood, mostly logs. Often when mushrooms grow out of specific materials an acorn or a pine cone, it is usually a species restricted to that substrate. The Nut Disco (Hymenoscyphus fructigenus) is a very tiny cup fungus that grows on hickory and beech nuts, and in acorn caps, however, they are very pale and barely yellow. Another species Hymenoscyphus epiphyllus is yellow-orange but grows on leaf litter, often oak. Hymenoscyphus calyculus grows on sticks and leaves and is also yellow like Bisporella citrina.
Hairy Rubber Cup (Galiella rufa)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; in clusters on deciduous wood; summer
Fruiting body: cup-shaped, ranging from a concave rim to an almost flat upper surface; smooth, tan inner surface and dark, hairy outer surface; margin fringed
Flesh: rubbery and gelatinous
Look-alikes: Brown-haired White Cup (Humaria hemisphaerica) has a white inner surface and light brown, hairy outer surface, and grows on the ground and wood.
Elfin Saddle (Helvella crispa)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: presumed to be mycorrhizal but is also saprophytic; on the ground under conifers and deciduous species or mossy wood; in lawns near planted conifers; late summer to fall
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Locally – this one was under Norway Spruce next to a pond
Cap: irregularly lobed and resembling a saddle in how it droops down; smooth upper surface and fuzzy underneath; margin is not attached to the stem; all white or yellowish
Stem: “fluted” which means there are grooves and ridges on the surface; hollow inside; glabrous
Flesh: thin and delicate
Look-alikes: Fluted Black Helvella (Helvella lacunosa) has a dark, almost black cap with a bald underside and a grey stem; Smooth-stalked Helvella (Helvella elastica) grows in the woods, has a smooth, slimmer stem without fluting, and a pale brown cap which is also saddle-shaped but the margin rolls under and inward; False Morels (Gyromitra) are also in the same family and have more wrinkly, inflated caps rather than a disc.
Bird’s Nest Fungi
Common Bird’s Nest (Crucibulum laeve)
Notes: light-colored eggs and yellow fuzzy cup exterioir
Habitat & ecology: saprophytic; cluster in large numbers on woody debris of many kinds (sticks, mulch, wood chips, leaves, bark, nut shells) and dung but not on logs or bigger pieces of wood; late summer to fall
Nest: When young, the velvety, yellow, or tan nest is covered by a yellow-orange, fuzzy “lid” that makes the cup look like a cushion. When the lid disintegrates, the greyish inside of the cup is revealed. The outside also smooths with age.
Eggs: smooth, tan, lentil-shaped peridioles attached to cords; embedded in gel at first
Look-a-likes: Crucibulum parvulum cup is even shorter, the outside is more white-gray, and grows on juniper wood, so Red Cedar in our area.
Dung-loving Bird’s Nest Fungus (Cyathus stercoreus)
Notes: dark eggs and smooth, not striated inside of the cup
Habitat & ecology: saprophytic; cluster in large numbers on dung, manured soil, organic debris like sawdust, and less often on wood chips and sticks; summer and fall
Nest: When young, the shaggy, golden brown cup is covered by a white lid. The interior of the cup is smooth, and light gray. The inside and outside become darker with time. The base sits on a reddish-brown pad of mycelium.
Eggs: black, lentil-shaped, and attached by short cords to the nest
Look-a-likes: Fluted Bird’s Nest Fungus (Cyathus striatus) has a striate inner surface rather than smooth and lighter-colored eggs; Cyathus olla is also woolly and brown with a white lid, but the rim flares a lot, and the eggs are lighter colored, fewer (usually four) and larger.
Fluted Bird’s Nest Fungus (Cyathus striatus)
Notes: grey eggs, striated interior of cup
Habitat & ecology: saprophytic; cluster in large numbers on dung, manured soil, wood chips, and organic debris like sawdust; summer and fall
Nest: When young, the outside of the cup is very shaggy, ranging from tan to rusty to dark brown. The lid is white and disintegrates to expose the vertically striate or grooved but smooth interior.
Eggs: ashy grey; lentil-shaped but sometimes with a pointed corner on one end; attached by a long cord to the nest; not imbedded in gel
Look-a-likes: Fluted Bird’s Nest Fungus (Cyathus striatus) has a striate inner surface rather than smooth.
