Key to Cup and Saucer-Shaped Fungi

1. Fertile surface (inside of cup or if saucer-like, the upper surface) colored yellow or orange to orange-red
    or green or purplish

    2. Fruit body red, orange-red, yellow, orange-yellow to dull orange; margin fringed with
        conspicuous (use hand lens) dark brown or blackish hairs

        3. Fruit body red, orange-red to bright orange; 3-15 (20) mm wide; marginal hairs (at least a few)
            longer than 1 mm ............................................................................................. Scutellinia scutellata

        3. Fruit body yellow, orange-yellow to dull orange; 1.5-3 (4) mm wide; marginal hairs less than
            1 mm long .........................................................................................................Scutellinia erinaceus

    2. Fruit body not with above combination of color and marginal dark hairs 

        4. Fruit body greenish, yellow, orangish, or purplish

            5. Fruit body purplish .......................................................................................Ascocoryne sarcoides

            5. Fruit body greenish and/or yellow or orangish

                6. Outer surface and fertile surface green (blue-green); colonized wood
                    same color ........................................................................................Chlorociboria aeruginascens

                6. Outer surface yellow to orangish; fertile surface yellow or orangish or green; colonized wood
                    not green

                    7. Outer and fertile surface entirely yellow or orangish

                        8. Fruit body yellowish to orangish; distinctly stalked, up to 1 cm tall ..........Guepiniopsis buccina

                        8. Fruit body yellowish; appearing sessile, barely elevated above surface of wood
                            .....................................................................................................................Calycina citrina

                    7. Outer surface bright yellow, fertile surface yellow at first, becoming
                        green at maturity; rim of cup often appearing as a yellow circle
                        surrounding a greenish fertile surface ......................................................Chlorosplenium chlora

        4. Fruit body bright red

            9. Cup-like fruit body borne on a stalk, stalk and cup covered with conspicuous
                white hairs ......................................................................................................Microstoma floccosum   

            9. Fruit body stalked or not; not covered with conspicuous white hairs

                10. Shallow, cup-like fruit body 2-5 cm wide; stalk short or lacking .............Sarcoscypha austriaca

                10. Shallow cup-like fruit body up to 1.3 cm wide; stalk conspicuous ...........Sarcoscypha occidentalis

1. Fertile surface (inside of cup or if saucer-like, the upper surface) 1) whitish and concentrically zoned, 2) entirely
    whitish or blackish, or 3) ashy-grey to some shade of brown including pale brown, tan, yellowish-brown,
    reddish-brown or darker brown

    11. Fertile surface concentrically zoned, 0.5-2 cm wide ...................................................Poronidulus conchifer

    11. Fertile surface not zoned

        12. Fertile surface whitish or blackish

              13. Fertile surface whitish

                    14. Fruit body very small (1 mm wide), stalked, and covered with conspicuous
                          white hairs ....................................................................................................Lachnum virgineum

                    14. Fruit body larger (1-3 cm wide), outer surface covered with conspicuous
                          brownish hairs ......................................................................................Humaria hemisphaerica

              13. Fertile surface blackish

                    15. Fruit body an urn-shaped cup, 3-8 cm wide; distinct stalk present ....................Urnula craterium

                    15. Fruit body saucer-shaped to flat-topped at maturity, 2-4 cm wide; stalkless .......Bulgaria inquinans

        12. Fertile surface ashy-grey to some shade of brown including pale brown, tan, yellowish-brown,
              reddish-brown or darker brown

              16. Individual fruit bodies small (less than 1 cm diameter)

                    17. Sterile outer surface whitish, fuzzy or cottony and different in color than the
                          fertile surface; fruit body sometimes confluent with other fruit bodies ......Aleurodiscus wakefieldiae

                    17. Sterile outer surface glabrous, concolorous with fertile surface; fruit bodies
                         are not confluent with other fruit bodies ........................................................Tatraea macrospora

              16. Individual fruit bodies larger than 1 cm               

                    18. Flesh of fruit body rubbery-gelatinous

                          19. Fruit body 1-3.5 cm wide, decidedly two-toned with the fertile surface tan to reddish brown
                                and the outer surface blackish-brown and finely hairy ......................................Galiella rufa

                          19. Fruit body 3-15 cm wide, not distinctly two-toned; fruit body ear-shaped to irregularly
                                cup-shaped with portions of the fruit body irregularly wrinkled or with raised, vein-like
                                markings ..............................................................................................Auricularia angiospermarum

                    18. Flesh of fruit body brittle, not gelatinous or rubbery; fruit body cup to
                          saucer-shaped, circular to irregular in outline, with or without wavy or torn margins

                          20. Outer surface whitish ..................................................................................Peziza repanda

                          20. Outer surface same color as fertile surface ...........................................Peziza badioconfusa

 

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