Fungi

Scarlet Elf Cup Sarcoscypha coccinea

Height up to 4cm

Width up to 5cm

This striking looking fungus with its bright red colour is almost impossible to miss. As its name suggests it is cup shaped, but tends to flatten with age.

Photograph by Rich Siebold

The Scarlet Elf Cap is a saprophyte and grows on dead wood. The favoured growing conditions are damp areas and hence often grow in association with mosses.

This uncommon fungus is seen between the months of December to April.

Photographed near Union West Virginia U.S.A. Included here as this uncommon species is also native to the UK.

Dog Stinkhorn Mutinus caninus

Height up to 12cm

Stem Red to orange

Cap Orange covered by olive brown spore mass.

Distinctive fungi that spring up from white egg like structures. They are conspicuous by their strong unpleasant odour.

The smell attracts flies that land on the slimy spore mass. The slime covered spores stick to the flies which are then carried elsewhere.

Photographed at Georgia U.S.A. Included here as this common species is also native to the UK.