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 the spring mushrooms Sarcoscyphaus bright red, resembling small red cups. Although these mushrooms are small, they are surprisingly bright, which evoke a feeling of joy. Their appearance tells everyone: the real spring has finally come! These mushrooms can be found everywhere: near roads, paths, on the edges, in the depths of the forest. They can grow on thawed areas near snowy places.
Types of spring sarcoscyphs
There are two types of sarcoscyphs: bright red and Austrian. Outwardly, they differ little, only close up and under a magnifying glass you can see small hairs on the outer surface of the bright red sarcoscypha, which are not found in the Austrian sarcoscypha. For a long time, it was written in the literature that the edibility of these mushrooms is unknown or that they are inedible.
All mushroom pickers are interested in: are sarcoscyphs edible or not? Now there is a lot of information on the Internet about the edibility of these mushrooms, even when raw. I would like to note that a single use of mushrooms, after which nothing happened, is not yet a reason for their constant use. For mushrooms, there is such a thing as the possible accumulation of harmful substances from repeated use. It is precisely because of this property, for example, that thin pigs were officially classified as inedible and even poisonous twenty years ago. Since scientists have not yet said their final word about sarcoscyphs, they cannot be classified as edible. In any case, they must be boiled for at least 15 minutes.
Sarcoscyphs have an important feature, they are an indicator of good ecology.
This means that they grow in an ecologically clean area. The authors of the book annually observe these mushrooms in the Istra region of the Moscow region. It should be noted that these fungi have begun to adapt to changes in external conditions and are now very common.
If sarcoscyphs are mass mushrooms, then there are other rare similar mushrooms in the form of yellow cups. They grow once every two or three years. They were last seen in 2013. They are called Caloscyphe fulgens.
Look at the photo of how different types of sarcoscyphs look like:
Mushroom sarcoscypha bright red
Where bright red sarcoscyphas (Sarcoscypha coccinea) grow: on fallen trees, branches, on litter in moss, more often on hardwoods, less often on spruces, grow in groups.
Season: the very first mushrooms that appear along with the melting of snow in spring, April – May, less often until June.
The fruit body of the bright red sarcoscypha 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 a leg of bright red inside and whitish outside with short white hairs. The shape straightens out over time and the edges become light and uneven.
The leg has a height of 0,5-3 cm, cone-shaped, with a diameter of 3-12 mm.
The pulp of the sarcoscif mushroom is bright red, dense, scarlet. Young specimens have a faint pleasant smell, while mature specimens have a “chemical” smell like DDT.
Variability. The color of the fruiting body inside the cup changes from bright red to orange.
Similar types. According to the description of the sarcoscyph, the bright red is surprisingly similar to the Austrian sarcoscyph (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 sarcoscyphs are edible. However, the properties of the long-term effects of these mushrooms on the body have not been studied, therefore, officially, from a scientific point of view, they are inedible.