Encoelia furfuracea (Roth) P. Karst. - Spring Hazelcup

Phylum: Ascomycota - Class: Leotiomycetes - Order: Helotiales - Family: Cenangiaceae

Distribution - Taxonomic History - Etymology - Identification - Culinary Notes - Reference Sources

This uncommon ascomycete fungus appears most often on dead ior dying Hazel stems, and particularly the straightish poles that spring up when Hazel trees and bushes are coppiced. As the common name suggests, fresh apothecia of this cup fungus usually appear just as the first spring bulbs are coming into flower.

Distribution

Encoeliua furfuracea is found throughout Britain and Ireland, where it is most commonly recorded in the south. This ascomycete is also known to occur across much of Europe and Asia as well as North America.

Taxonomic history

This wood-rotting cup fungus was described in 1800 by German botanist Albrecht Wilhelm Roth (1757 - 1834), who gave it the binomial scientific name Peziza furfuracea.It was Finnish mycologist Petter Adolf Karsten who, in 1864, gave this species its currently-accepted scientific name Encoelia furfuracea.

Synonyms of Encoelia furfuracea include Peziza furfuracea Roth, and Dermea furfuracea (Roth) Schwein.

Etymology

The specific epithet furfuracea means 'scurfy' or 'mealy' - a reference to the texture of the infertile outer surface of this cup fungus.

Identification guide

	Apothecia Initially ashallow cup 1 to 5cm across;outer surface scurfy and pale brown; margin initially inrolled; stemless, erupting through the bark either singly or, more often, in small clusters.
	Inner (fertile) surface smooth, orange-brown asci are 8-spored and typically 6 x 95µm.
	Spores Ellipsoidal, smooth, typically 10 x 2µm. Spore print White.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive. Like nearly all of the cup fungi, this species in inedible.
Habitat & Ecological role	On stems of Hazel and Alder, with one confirmed UK record on Hornbeam.
Season	Persisting through the year, with new apothecia appearing from late winter until the end of spring.
Similar species	Encoelia fimbriata is similar and occurs generally in larger clusters and nearly always on willows (Salix spp.) but occasionally Prunus species; its asci are tapered cylinders and the ascospores are shorter and much broader than those of E. furfuracea. There are many cup fungi of various shades of fawn or brown. The key discriminating macroscopic features of Spring Hazelcup are its scurfy light brown outer surface and its substrate - nearly always Hazel.

Culinary Notes

This cup fungus is not considered edible.

Reference Sources

Dennis, R.W.G. (1981). British Ascomycetes; Lubrecht & Cramer; ISBN: 3768205525.

Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1984). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 1: Ascomycetes. Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland.

Medardi, G. (2006). Ascomiceti d'Italia. Centro Studi Micologici: Trento.

Dictionary of the Fungi; Paul M. Kirk, Paul F. Cannon, David W. Minter and J. A. Stalpers; CABI, 2008

Taxonomic history and synonym information on these pages is drawn from many sources but in particular from the British Mycological Society's GB Checklist of Fungi.

Acknowledgements

This page includes poictures kindly contributed by Donna Rainey.

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