Sarcoscypha Coccinea - Uses

Uses

Sarcoscypha coccinea was used as a medicinal fungus by the Oneida Indians, and possibly by other tribes of the Iroquois Six Nations. The fungus, after being dried and ground up into a powder, was applied as a styptic, particularly to the navels of newborn children that were not healing properly after the umbilical cord had been severed. Pulverized fruit bodies were also kept under bandages made of soft-tanned deerskin. In Scarborough, England, the fruit bodies used to be arranged with moss and leaves and sold as a table decoration.

The species is said to be edible, inedible, or "not recommended", depending on the author. Although its insubstantial fruit body and low numbers do not make it particularly suitable for the table, one source claims "children in the Jura are said to eat it raw on bread and butter; and one French author suggests adding the cups, with a little Kirsch, to a fresh fruit salad." The fruit bodies have been noted to be a source of food for rodents in the winter, and slugs in the summer.