Scarlet Elfcup

Scarlet Elfcup fungus - Sarcoscypha austriaca

Visited Cambo today to see the snowdrops, always a magnificent sight Mid-February. I didn't take photos of the snowdrops as I've taken them many times before. However, I was much taken with this fungus, which helpfully had an explanatory label next to it. It is a fungus of startling colours. The cup-shaped fruiting bodies are whitish on the outside due to a coating of numerous, minute, curly white hairs. The smooth inner spore-producing surface is a bright uniform scarlet. It grows on fallen wood, twigs and branches in broadleaf woods, particularly in humid habitats.