Sarcoscypha Coccinea - Ecology, Habitat and Distribution

Ecology, Habitat and Distribution

A saprobic species, Sarcoscypha coccinea grows on decaying woody material from various plants: the rose family, beech, hazel, willow, elm, and, in the Mediterranean, oak. The fruit bodies of S. coccinea are often found growing singly or clustered in groups on buried or partly buried sticks in deciduous forests. A Hungarian study noted that the fungus was found mainly on twigs of European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) that were typically less than 5 cm (2.0 in) long. Fruit bodies growing on sticks above the ground tend to be smaller than those on buried wood. Mushrooms that are sheltered from wind also grow larger than their more exposed counterparts. The fruit bodies are persistent and may last for several weeks if the weather is cool. The time required for the development of fruit bodies has been estimated to be about 24 weeks, although it was noted that "the maximum life span may well be more than 24 weeks because the decline of the colonies seemed to be associated more with sunny, windy weather rather than with old age." One field guide calls the fungus "a welcome sight after a long, desperate winter and ... the harbinger of a new year of mushrooming."

Common over much of the northern hemisphere, S. coccinea occurs in the midwest, in the valleys between the Pacific coast, the Sierra Nevada, and the Cascade Range. Its North American distribution extends north to various locations in Canada and south to the Mexican state Jalisco. The fungus has also been collected from Chile in South America. It is also found in the Old World—Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and India. Specimens collected from the Macaronesian islands that once thought to be S. coccinea were later determined to be the distinct species S. macaronesica. A 1995 study of the occurrence of British Sarcoscypha (including S. coccinea and S. austriaca) concluded that S. coccinea was becoming very rare in Great Britain. All species of Sarcoscypha, including S. coccinea, are Red-listed in Europe.