Sarcoscypha occidentalis
Encyclopedia
Sarcoscypha occidentalis, commonly known as the stalked scarlet cup or the western scarlet cup, is a species of fungus
in the family Sarcoscyphaceae
of the Pezizales
order. Fruit bodies
have small, bright red cups up to 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) wide atop a slender whitish stem
that is between 1 to 3 cm (0.393700787401575 to 1.2 in) long. A saprobic species, it is found growing on hardwood
twigs, particularly those that are partially buried in moist and shaded humus-rich soil. The fungus is distributed in the continental United States east of the Rocky Mountains, Central America, the Caribbean, and Asia. It is distinguished from the related species S. coccinea
and S. austriaca
by differences in geographical distribution, fruiting season, and fruit body structure. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that it is most closely related to other Sarcoscypha species that contain large oil droplets in their spore
s. The species Molliardiomyces occidentalis is an imperfect form of the fungus that lacks a sexually reproductive
stage in its life cycle
.
, was named Peziza occidentalis by Lewis David de Schweinitz in 1832. It was assigned its current name by Pier Andrea Saccardo
in 1888. Andrew Price Morgan
renamed the species Geopyxis occidentalis in 1902 because of a perceived similarity with Geopyxis hesperidea, but the name change was not adopted by subsequent authors. In 1928, Fred Jay Seaver
overturned Saccardo's naming and applied the name Plectania to Sarcoscypha coccinea and other red cup fungi. In later taxonomic
revisions, Richard P. Korf reinstated the genus name Sarcoscypha
.
The specific epithet occidentalis, derived from the Latin
word for "western", may refer to the distribution of the species in the western hemisphere
. It is commonly
known as the stalked scarlet cup or the western scarlet cup.
analysis combined comparison of sequences
from the internal transcribed spacer
in the non-functional RNA
with fifteen traditional morphological
characters, such as spore
features, fruit body shape, and degree of hair curliness. Based on this analysis, S. occidentalis is part of a clade
of evolutionarily related taxa that includes the species S. dudleyi
, S. emarginata, S. hosoyae, S. korfiana and S. mesocyatha. All of these species contain large oil droplets in their spores, in contrast to the other major clade of Sarcoscypha (containing the type species
S. coccinea), characterized by having smaller, more numerous droplets. The species most closely related to S. occidentalis is S. mesocyatha, known only from Hawaii
.
that is small to medium sized, up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long and 1.5–2 mm thick, and attached centrally or to the side to the underside of the cup. The base of the stem may be covered with translucent "hairs". The fertile spore
-bearing inner surface of the cups, the hymenium
, is bright red but fades to yellow or orange when dry. It is smooth or becomes so with time. The fruit bodies are fleshy to rubbery when fresh, but become leathery when dry. The flesh
is thin and has no distinctive odor or taste. S. occidentalis is "of no culinary value". A Jamaican variety has been named (as Plectania occidentalis var. jamaicensis); it has a pinker hymenium.
Exipulum is a term used to refer to the tissue or tissues containing the hymenium of an ascomycete fruit body. The ectal excipulum (outer tissue layer) is thin (20–30 µm
thickness), made of a tissue type known as texura porrecta, consisting of more or less parallel hypha
e all in one direction, with wide lumina and non-thickened walls. The medullary exipulum (middle tissue layer) is thick (200–600 µm) and made of textura intricata, a tissue layer made of irregularly interwoven hyphae with distinct spaces between the hyphae. The asci
(filamentous structures in which the ascospore
s develop) are cylindrical with gradually tapering bases, eight-spored, and measure 240–280 by 12–15 µm. The ascospores have ellipsoidal to roughly cylindrical shapes, usually with blunt ends, and measure 19–22 by 10–12 µm. They have smooth surfaces and usually contain two large oil drops. The paraphyses
(sterile, filamentous hyphae present in the hymenium) are cylindrical, 2–3 µm thick, barely enlarged at their apices, straight, and mostly unbranched above. They may sometimes anastomose
, but do not form a conspicuous network. The paraphyses contain numerous red granules
.
are those that seem to lack a sexual stage in their life cycle
, and typically reproduce by the process of mitosis
in structures called conidia
. In some cases, the sexual stage—or teleomorph
stage—is later identified, and a teleomorph-anamorph relationship is established between the species. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature permits the recognition of two (or more) names for one and the same organisms, one based on the teleomorph, the other(s) restricted to the anamorph. The anamorphic state of S. occidentalis is Molliardiomyces occidentalis, described by John W. Paden. This form produces smooth, colorless conidiophores (specialized stalks that bear conidia) measuring 20–230 by 2–3.2 µm. The conidia are roughly spherical to ovoid, smooth, translucent (hyaline
), and 4.6–7.0 by 3.0–3.8 µm.
, but is distinguished macroscopically from this species by its smaller fruit bodies, smaller spores, and less hairy exterior. The two also differ in seasonal and geographic distribution: S. coccinea fruits earlier in the year, and is distributed in eastern North America, in the midwest, in the valleys between the Pacific coast and the Sierras and Cascades, as well as Europe, Africa, Australia, and India. Another eastern North American species, S. austriaca
, has scarlet fruit bodies up to 6 cm (2.4 in) wide, and fruits in the early spring.
S. occidentalis may also be mistaken for Microstoma floccosum
, which occurs in the same habitat. M. floccosum, however, has taller cups and is covered with stiff white hairs. Another cup-fungus, Scutellinia scutellata
, is disc-shaped without a stem, and is fringed with black hairs around its rim.
and lignin
of wood and leaf litter into smaller oligosaccharide
s that may be used by a variety of microbes. Fruit bodies of S. coccinea may grow either solitarily, scattered or grouped together on sticks, twigs, and fragments of dead wood, usually somewhat decomposed and partially buried in the top 5 cm (2 in) of soil and forest litter. It prefers soil that is moist and shaded and has a high content of humus. Like all Sarcoscypha species, it prefers the wood of angiosperms, such as oak
, maple
, and basswood; one field guide notes a preference for shagbark hickory
. In the United States, it fruits from late spring to early autumn, which contrasts it with S. coccinea, found usually in the spring.
The fungus is found in North America east of the Rocky Mountains
, and at higher elevations in Central America
and the Caribbean
. It has also been collected in Japan and Taiwan.
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 family 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:...
of 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. Fruit bodies
Ascocarp
An ascocarp, or ascoma , is the fruiting body of an ascomycete fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and may contain millions of asci, each of which typically contains eight ascospores...
have small, bright red cups up to 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) wide atop a slender whitish stem
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
that is between 1 to 3 cm (0.393700787401575 to 1.2 in) long. A saprobic species, it is found growing on 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...
twigs, particularly those that are partially buried in moist and shaded humus-rich soil. The fungus is distributed in the continental United States east of the Rocky Mountains, Central America, the Caribbean, and Asia. It is distinguished from the related species S. 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 S. austriaca
Sarcoscypha austriaca
Sarcoscypha austriaca is a saprobic fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family in the Pezizales order of Ascomycota. It is commonly known as the scarlet elfcup, pézize écarlate and scharlachroter kelchbecherling...
by differences in geographical distribution, fruiting season, and fruit body structure. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that it is most closely related to other Sarcoscypha species that contain large oil droplets in their spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s. The species Molliardiomyces occidentalis is an imperfect form of the fungus that lacks a sexually reproductive
Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is the creation of a new organism by combining the genetic material of two organisms. There are two main processes during sexual reproduction; they are: meiosis, involving the halving of the number of chromosomes; and fertilization, involving the fusion of two gametes and the...
stage in its life cycle
Biological life cycle
A life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...
.
Taxonomy and naming
The fungus, originally collected from Muskingum County, OhioMuskingum County, Ohio
Muskingum County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 86,074. Its county seat is Zanesville...
, was named Peziza occidentalis by Lewis David de Schweinitz in 1832. It was assigned its current name by Pier Andrea Saccardo
Pier Andrea Saccardo
Pier Andrea Saccardo was an Italian botanist and mycologist.- Life :...
in 1888. Andrew Price Morgan
Andrew Price Morgan
Andrew Price Morgan was an American botanist. He investigated the flora of the Miami Valley in Ohio. While his interest included flowering plants, as noted by his Flora of the Miami Valley, Ohio, his special interest was in fungi. Morgan worked as a teacher in Dayton...
renamed the species Geopyxis occidentalis in 1902 because of a perceived similarity with Geopyxis hesperidea, but the name change was not adopted by subsequent authors. In 1928, Fred Jay Seaver
Fred Jay Seaver
Fred Jay Seaver was an American mycologist. He worked at the New York Botanical Garden for 40 years, initially as the Director of Laboratories , then as the Curator , and finally as Head Curator . He was also an editor of the journal Mycologia between 1909 and 1947.- References :...
overturned Saccardo's naming and applied the name Plectania to Sarcoscypha coccinea and other red cup fungi. In later taxonomic
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
revisions, Richard P. Korf reinstated the genus name Sarcoscypha
Sarcoscypha
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 -...
.
The specific epithet occidentalis, derived from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word for "western", may refer to the distribution of the species in the western hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
. It is commonly
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
known as the stalked scarlet cup or the western scarlet cup.
Phylogeny
The phylogenetic relationships in the genus Sarcoscypha were analyzed by Francis Harrington in the late 1990s. The cladisticCladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
analysis combined comparison of sequences
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
from the internal transcribed spacer
Internal transcribed spacer
ITS refers to a piece of non-functional RNA situated between structural ribosomal RNAs on a common precursor transcript. Read from 5' to 3', this polycistronic rRNA precursor transcript contains the 5' external transcribed sequence , 18S rRNA, ITS1, 5.8S rRNA, ITS2, 28S rRNA and finally the 3'ETS...
in the non-functional RNA
RNA
Ribonucleic acid , or RNA, is one of the three major macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life....
with fifteen traditional morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
characters, such as spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
features, fruit body shape, and degree of hair curliness. Based on this analysis, S. occidentalis is part of a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
of evolutionarily related taxa that includes the species S. 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...
, S. emarginata, S. hosoyae, S. korfiana and S. mesocyatha. All of these species contain large oil droplets in their spores, in contrast to the other major clade of Sarcoscypha (containing the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
S. coccinea), characterized by having smaller, more numerous droplets. The species most closely related to S. occidentalis is S. mesocyatha, known only from Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Description
Depending on their age, the fruit bodies of S. occidentalis may range in shape from deep cups to saucers to discs in maturity, and they can reach diameters up to 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in). In young specimens, the edges of the cup are curled inwards, and crenulate (with small rounded scallops); the cup edges in older specimens become laciniate (with jagged edges cut into irregular segments). The cups rest atop a stemStipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
that is small to medium sized, up to 30 mm (1.2 in) long and 1.5–2 mm thick, and attached centrally or to the side to the underside of the cup. The base of the stem may be covered with translucent "hairs". The fertile spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
-bearing inner surface of the cups, the hymenium
Hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
, is bright red but fades to yellow or orange when dry. It is smooth or becomes so with time. The fruit bodies are fleshy to rubbery when fresh, but become leathery when dry. The flesh
Trama (mycology)
In mycology trama is a term for the inner, fleshy portion of a mushroom's basidiocarp, or fruit body. It is distinct from the outer layer of tissue, known as the pileipellis or cuticle, and from the spore-bearing tissue layer known as the hymenium....
is thin and has no distinctive odor or taste. S. occidentalis is "of no culinary value". A Jamaican variety has been named (as Plectania occidentalis var. jamaicensis); it has a pinker hymenium.
Exipulum is a term used to refer to the tissue or tissues containing the hymenium of an ascomycete fruit body. The ectal excipulum (outer tissue layer) is thin (20–30 µm
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
thickness), made of a tissue type known as texura porrecta, consisting of more or less parallel hypha
Hypha
A hypha is a long, branching filamentous structure of a fungus, and also of unrelated Actinobacteria. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium; yeasts are unicellular fungi that do not grow as hyphae.-Structure:A hypha consists of one or...
e all in one direction, with wide lumina and non-thickened walls. The medullary exipulum (middle tissue layer) is thick (200–600 µm) and made of textura intricata, a tissue layer made of irregularly interwoven hyphae with distinct spaces between the hyphae. The asci
Ascus
An ascus is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. On average, asci normally contain eight ascospores, produced by a meiotic cell division followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or species can number one , two, four, or multiples...
(filamentous structures in which the ascospore
Ascospore
An ascospore is a spore contained in an ascus or that was produced inside an ascus. This kind of spore is specific to fungi classified as ascomycetes ....
s develop) are cylindrical with gradually tapering bases, eight-spored, and measure 240–280 by 12–15 µm. The ascospores have ellipsoidal to roughly cylindrical shapes, usually with blunt ends, and measure 19–22 by 10–12 µm. They have smooth surfaces and usually contain two large oil drops. The paraphyses
Paraphyses
Paraphyses are part of the fertile spore-bearing layer in certain fungi. More specifically, paraphyses are sterile filamentous hyphal end cells composing part of the hymenium of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota interspersed among either the asci or basidia respectively, and not sufficiently...
(sterile, filamentous hyphae present in the hymenium) are cylindrical, 2–3 µm thick, barely enlarged at their apices, straight, and mostly unbranched above. They may sometimes anastomose
Anastomosis
An anastomosis is the reconnection of two streams that previously branched out, such as blood vessels or leaf veins. The term is used in medicine, biology, mycology and geology....
, but do not form a conspicuous network. The paraphyses contain numerous red granules
Granule (cell biology)
In cell biology, a granule is a small particle. It can be any structure barely visible by light microscopy. The term is most often used to describe a secretory vesicle.-Leukocytes:...
.
Anamorph form
Anamorphic or imperfect fungiFungi imperfecti
The Fungi imperfecti or imperfect fungi, also known as Deuteromycota, are fungi which do not fit into the commonly established taxonomic classifications of fungi that are based on biological species concepts or morphological characteristics of sexual structures because their sexual form of...
are those that seem to lack a sexual stage in their life cycle
Biological life cycle
A life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...
, and typically reproduce by the process of mitosis
Mitosis
Mitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets, in two separate nuclei. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly...
in structures called conidia
Conidium
Conidia, sometimes termed conidiospores, are asexual, non-motile spores of a fungus and are named after the greek word for dust, konia. They are also called mitospores due to the way they are generated through the cellular process of mitosis...
. In some cases, the sexual stage—or teleomorph
Teleomorph, anamorph and holomorph
The terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.*Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage , typically a fruiting body....
stage—is later identified, and a teleomorph-anamorph relationship is established between the species. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature permits the recognition of two (or more) names for one and the same organisms, one based on the teleomorph, the other(s) restricted to the anamorph. The anamorphic state of S. occidentalis is Molliardiomyces occidentalis, described by John W. Paden. This form produces smooth, colorless conidiophores (specialized stalks that bear conidia) measuring 20–230 by 2–3.2 µm. The conidia are roughly spherical to ovoid, smooth, translucent (hyaline
Hyaline
The term hyaline denotes a substance with a glass-like appearance.-Histopathology:In histopathological medical usage, a hyaline substance appears glassy and pink after being stained with haematoxylin and eosin — usually it is an acellular, proteinaceous material...
), and 4.6–7.0 by 3.0–3.8 µm.
Similar species
Sarcoscypha occidentalis is frequently confused with S. coccineaSarcoscypha 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...
, but is distinguished macroscopically from this species by its smaller fruit bodies, smaller spores, and less hairy exterior. The two also differ in seasonal and geographic distribution: S. coccinea fruits earlier in the year, and is distributed in eastern North America, in the midwest, in the valleys between the Pacific coast and the Sierras and Cascades, as well as Europe, Africa, Australia, and India. Another eastern North American species, S. austriaca
Sarcoscypha austriaca
Sarcoscypha austriaca is a saprobic fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family in the Pezizales order of Ascomycota. It is commonly known as the scarlet elfcup, pézize écarlate and scharlachroter kelchbecherling...
, has scarlet fruit bodies up to 6 cm (2.4 in) wide, and fruits in the early spring.
S. occidentalis may also be mistaken for Microstoma floccosum
Microstoma floccosum
Microstoma floccosum is a species in the Sarcoscyphaceae family of cup fungi. It is recognizable by its deep funnel-shaped, scarlet-colored fruiting bodies bearing white hairs on the exterior...
, which occurs in the same habitat. M. floccosum, however, has taller cups and is covered with stiff white hairs. Another cup-fungus, Scutellinia scutellata
Scutellinia scutellata
Scutellinia scutellata, commonly known as the eyelash cup, the Molly eye-winker, the scarlet elf cap, the eyelash fungus or the eyelash pixie cup, is a small saprophytic fungus of the genus Scutellinia. It is the type species of Scutellinia, as well as being the most common and widespread...
, is disc-shaped without a stem, and is fringed with black hairs around its rim.
Ecology, habitat and distribution
As a saprobic fungus, Sarcoscypha occidentalis is part of a community of fungi that play an important role in the forest ecosystem by breaking down the complex insoluble molecules celluloseCellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
and lignin
Lignin
Lignin or lignen is a complex chemical compound most commonly derived from wood, and an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants and some algae. The term was introduced in 1819 by de Candolle and is derived from the Latin word lignum, meaning wood...
of wood and leaf litter into smaller oligosaccharide
Oligosaccharide
An oligosaccharide is a saccharide polymer containing a small number of component sugars, also known as simple sugars...
s that may be used by a variety of microbes. Fruit bodies of S. coccinea may grow either solitarily, scattered or grouped together on sticks, twigs, and fragments of dead wood, usually somewhat decomposed and partially buried in the top 5 cm (2 in) of soil and forest litter. It prefers soil that is moist and shaded and has a high content of humus. Like all Sarcoscypha species, it prefers the wood of angiosperms, such as oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, maple
Maple
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
, and basswood; one field guide notes a preference for shagbark hickory
Shagbark Hickory
Carya ovata, the Shagbark Hickory, is a common hickory in the eastern United States and southeast Canada. It is a large deciduous tree, growing up to 27 m tall, and will live up to 200 years. Mature Shagbarks are easy to recognize because, as their name implies, they have shaggy bark...
. In the United States, it fruits from late spring to early autumn, which contrasts it with S. coccinea, found usually in the spring.
The fungus is found in North America east of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, and at higher elevations in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. It has also been collected in Japan and Taiwan.