When I grow up.... tt149

Welcome to Tiny Tuesday

This week I give you - Scarlet Elfcup - Sarcoscypha austriaca (previous id discussion can be found here). Some text books (& wiki) will still list this as S. coccinea - but that is latterly now accepted to be the rarer Ruby.

It's a thing of beauty to be found in wet woodland, like many fungi it grows on old fallen branches or twigs - but I most often associate it with moss covered hardwood. It offers a flash of colour so vibrant it looks iridescent; this shot is straight from camera, the red is the fertile part of the fungi. 
The main fruit body in this shot was just big enough to accept the tip of my little finger, the fallen branch probably thumb width. But if you look closely, and I've tried to highlight it with the thumbnail - you'll see another just starting to form. In all there were about 30 in a metre square area, a wonderful find on a damp day.

I'll take a couple of days to enjoy this weeks TT entries (& to allow for time zones) but I'll post the results on Thursday.