This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Sarcoscypha coccinea is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
| Sarcoscypha | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Scarlet elf cap, Sarcoscypha coccinea
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
Sarcoscypha is a genus of ascomycete fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae. Species of Sarcoscypha are present in Europe, North America and tropical Asia. They are characterised by a cup-shaped apothecium which is often brightly coloured. Some members of the family such as S. coccinea and the - according to new knowledge - more common S. austriaca in western Europe and United States have bright scarlet apothecia which have given them familiar names such as the scarlet cup fungus and scarlet elf cap, and which makes them especially beautiful fungi.
Members of the Sarcoscyphinae grow as saprotrophs on dead wood, and especially in the case of Sarcoscypha, on mostly damp branches or twigs of hard-wood species often in association with damp loving mosses. There is a strong association with damp places and north facing slopes. Typical locations include woods in damp stream valleys. Fruiting in most species tends to be in late winter or early spring with fruiting bodies produced on the dead wood within which the mycelium grows, although in some cases the apothecium appears to arise from amongst moss or from the leaf-litter. Because of their brilliant colour, many species are very easy to see in damp woodlands before spring growth has started.
In areas with a continental climate, fruiting bodies may be developed underneath snow and are only revealed at the thaw. summary: this organism is a sac fungus in the ascomycyte group, unique for their cupped shape. Sarcoscypha coccinea has many synonyms including Aleuria insolita, Geopyxis coccinea, Peziza insolita and Sarcoscypha coccinea var. albida.
External links
- European and North American species of Sarcoscypha by H. O. Baral
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 14 July 2008, at 20:27.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Sarcoscypha coccinea".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.