Sarcoscypha austriaca is a saprobic

Saprotrophic nutrition

Saprotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extra-cellular digestion involved in the processing of dead or decayed organic matter that occurs in saprotrophs or heterotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi, for example Mucor and Rhizopus...

  fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 in the Sarcoscyphaceae

Sarcoscyphaceae

The Sarcoscyphaceae are a family of cup fungi in the Pezizales order. There are 13 genera and 102 species in the family. Members of this family are cosmopolitan in distribution, being found in both tropical and temperate regions.-External links:...

 family in the Pezizales

Pezizales

The Pezizales are an order of the subphylum Pezizomycotina within the phylum Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683 species. It contains a number of species of economic importance, such as morels, the black and white truffles, and the desert truffles. The Pezizales are...

 order of Ascomycota

Ascomycota

The Ascomycota are a Division/Phylum of the kingdom Fungi, and subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the Sac fungi. They are the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species...

. It is commonly known as the scarlet elfcup, pézize écarlate and scharlachroter kelchbecherling. The species name means "from Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

".

Distribution

This species is found in Europe and the Pacific Northeast of North America where it can be separated from Sarcoscypha dudleyi

Sarcoscypha dudleyi

Sarcoscypha dudleyi, commonly known as the crimson cup or the scarlet cup, is a species of fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family of the Pezizales order. In addition to its main distribution in the central to eastern United States, the fungus has also been recorded once in Bulgaria...

on spore characteristics.

Description

This species is found growing on fallen pieces of dead hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

 among mosses and leaf litter in damp habitats in winter and early spring. The fruiting body is cup-shaped with a scarlet smooth, shiny interior. The exterior is covered with a felted mass of short hairs in varying shades of white and pink and a stubby stem. The flesh is white and rubbery with a thin red layer lining the cup. The spore print is white and the spores are ellipsoidal with flattened ends and containing several oil droplets. On the outside of the cup the hairs are curly or corkscrew shaped. These features distinguishes this species from the rather similar Sarcoscypha coccinea

Sarcoscypha coccinea

Sarcoscypha coccinea, commonly known as the scarlet elf cup, or the scarlet cup, is a species of fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family of the Pezizales order. The fungus, widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, has been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia...

and Sarcoscypha jurana It is reported to grow on the dead wood of such hosts as Alnus incana, species of Salix

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

, Acer and Robinia

Robinia

Robinia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, native to North America and northern Mexico. Commonly known as "locusts", they are deciduous trees and shrubs growing 4-25 m tall. The leaves are pinnate with 7-21 oval leaflets. The flowers are white or pink, in...

. It is part of a complex of species which includes Sarcoscypha coccinea and Sarcoscypha dudleyi.