Sarcoscifus mushroom: photo and description

Sarcoscypha (Sarcoscypha) - One of those mushrooms that have a very attractive appearance. With a rich imagination, they can even be compared with scarlet flowers, especially if these original fruiting bodies do not grow on dry wood, but on juicy green moss. In this case, it seems as if a dense bright bud is surrounded by bright green leaves.

The first beautiful mushrooms after the snow melts are spring red sarcoscifus mushrooms resembling small red cups. Although these mushrooms are small, but surprisingly bright, which cause a feeling of joy. Their appearance tells everyone: finally, real spring has come! These mushrooms can be found everywhere: near roads, paths, at the edges, in the depths of the forest. They can grow on thawed areas near snowy places.

Types of spring sarcoscifus

There are two types of sarcosciffus: bright red and Austrian. Outwardly, they differ little, only near and under a magnifying glass you can see small hairs on the outer surface of the sarcoscifa bright red, which the Austrian sarcoscifus does not have. For a long time in the literature they wrote that the edibility of these fungi is unknown or that they are inedible.

All mushroom pickers are interested: are sarcosciffs edible or not? Now on the Internet there is a lot of information about the edibility of these mushrooms, even in raw form. I would like to note that the one-time use of mushrooms, after which nothing happened, is not a reason for their constant use. For mushrooms, there is such a thing as the possible accumulation of harmful substances from repeated use. Precisely because of this property, for example, thin sows were officially classified as inedible and even poisonous twenty years ago. Since scientists have not yet said their final word about the sarcoscifus, they can not be attributed to edible. In any case, they must be boiled for at least 15 minutes.

Sarcoscyphus has an important sign, they are an indicator of good ecology.

This means that they grow in ecologically clean areas. The authors of the book annually observe these mushrooms in the Istra district of Moscow region. It should be noted that these mushrooms began to adapt to changes in external conditions and now they have become very widespread.

If sarcosciffs are massive mushrooms, then there are other rare similar mushrooms in the form of yellow cups. They grow once every two to three years. The last time they were observed in 2013. They are called the brilliant caloscif (Caloscyphe fulgens).

Take a look at the sarcosciffs of different species:

Sarcoscifus mushroom bright red

Where sarcoscifes grow bright red (Sarcoscypha coccinea): on fallen trees, branches, on litter in moss, more often on deciduous trees, less often on spruce trees, they grow in groups.

Season: the very first mushrooms that appear along with snow melt in spring, April - May, less often until June.

The fruit body of the bright red sarcoscifa has a diameter of 1-6 cm, a height of 1-4 cm. A distinctive feature of the species is a goblet shape with a cup and leg bright red inside and whitish outside with short white hairs. The shape straightens over time and the edges become bright and uneven.

The leg has a height of 0.5-3 cm, conical, with a diameter of 3-12 mm.

The pulp of the sarcoscifus mushroom is bright red dense, scarlet.Young specimens have a faint pleasant odor, while mature specimens have a “chemistry” smell like DDT.

Variability. The color of the fruiting body inside the cup changes from bright red to orange.

Similar views. According to the description of the sarcoscif, bright red is surprisingly similar to the Austrian sarcoscif (Sarcoscypha austriaca), which has similar properties, but does not have small hairs on the surface.

Edibility: There is a lot of information on the Internet that the sarcoscifus is edible. However, the properties of the long-term effects of these fungi on the body have not been studied, therefore, officially, from a scientific point of view, they are inedible.