The cup fungi are ascomycetes that are grouped within the class Discomycetes, order Pezizales. These fungi produce fruiting structures called apothecia, bowl or cup shaped structures with open tops and a hymenial lining (rows of asci that contain the spores). The asci of the Pezizales are operculate; they have a hinged lid that opens to disperse the spores. Most of the Pezizales are saprophytic, and can be found growing in soil, leaf litter, or on decaying wood.

There are several species of cup fungi from which faeries might sip. Let's look at a few of them.

Microstoma floccosum, the pink fringed faery cup, is found in cute little clusters on the sides of rather small diameter twigs. Occasionally they are found singly, but they rather like to group together gregariously. Some years it is very abundant, and some years you never even see one. They're really fun to find, since they're so beautiful, with their pink insides and the abundance of fuzzy white hairs on the outside. Like the other cup fungi, their ascospores (sexual spores formed by meiosis and free cell formation) are borne inside of cylindrical-shaped asci that line the upper pink surface of the fruiting bodies. These ascospores are forcibly shot away from the fruiting body, in order to spread the spores to new habitats.

Like most fungi, the Latin name tells you a great deal about the fungus: Microstoma means "small mouth," while floccosum refers to the "floccules" (small flocks, like a flocked Christmas tree) of white fuzzy hairs covering the fruiting bodies. (Isn't Latin fun?) The fruiting bodies themselves are about 5 mm across the top and perhaps 15 mm from the attachment point to the top of the cup. These lovely fruiting bodies certainly look like small goblets or something else faeries might use in their wine and tea parties on a midsummer night. Why not join them?

Aleuria aurantia is also known as the orange fairy cup or the orange peel fungi. I remember the first time I saw this species, scattered amongst the small rocks of a forest trail-- mentally scolding the hiker who discarded his orange peels right there on the trail. I soon forgave the potential offender when I realized it was the orange peel fungus. The inner ascus-bearing surface of the cup is bright orange, and it outer surface is a pale whitish orange. Again, the ascospores are borne within the asci on the upper surface. If you're careful, you can gently blow over the surface of the fruiting body, like you blow over the top of a coke bottle or a Kentucky jug-- then you might be able to see the puff of ascospores as they are released into the air currents. The orange fairy cup can be observed growing in soil matter and along trails and other hard packed places from May to August (January in California), and its range includes most of North America. The picture to the right was taken among the redwoods in California. They are very variable in size, from 2mm across to 60mm across. If you can find enough biomass, Aleuria aurantia is edible and supposedly tasty when prepared, but you may want to thank the faeries with a small offering after collecting some of their orange cups, lest they become upset and play a nasty faery trick on you.

Sarcoscypha occidentalis, the scarlet Pixie cup is found growing on small diameter twigs along trails all throughout the summer. Sometimes it looks like they are growing directly from the ground, but if you dig down under the fruiting bodies you will always find a piece of wood. It's probably more "convenient" for the fungus to grow from buried wood, since that wood will remain moister than wood at the soil surface. Sarco means "flesh," while scypha means cup. the specific epithet occidentalis means "of the west." Thus this fungus could be the "flesh cup of the west." Sounds wicked doesn't it?

In any case, its close relative, Sarcoscypha coccinea and other closely related species are found in very early spring, usually on maple twigs, and is usually at least twice as large as S. occidentalis. There are some spore size differences as well. Interestingly, the orange color in the cup is mostly restricted to paraphyses, which are sterile cells between the asci. Take a look in your microscope.

The pixie cup (Geopyxis carbonaria) has an interesting Latin name that tells you practically all you need to know about it. "Geo" means earth, and "pyxis" means pixies. The specific epithet "carbonarius" derives from the fact that the fungus grows on burnt soil and charred wood. In fact, G. carbonaria is often the most abundant fungus to emerge after a forest fire, especially in western North America. G. carbonaria ranges in color from whitish brown to ochre to salmon, and the margin of its cups bear fine teeth. Pixie cups can be spotted from March through September across the northern United States and Canada. The elf cup, Tarzetta cupularis looks extremely similar to G. carbonaria. T. cupularis thrives in burnt soil and mosses of coniferous forests. It can be distinguished from G. carbonaria by the two distinct oil spots in its spores.

Other species of fungi have been long associated with faeries, elves and other magical creatures. Marasmius oreades is a mushroom that grows in "fairy rings." Amanita muscaria, the fly agaric is often depicted with faeries, gnomes and elves, possibly because of its "magical" properties or because upon ingestion its hallucinogenic properties may cause one to believe that they see the little people.