Fluted bird's nest

Description:

Funnel-shaped fruitbodies form initially as light-brown fluffy inverted cones on decayed hardwood or on woody debris such as wood-chip mulch. They become darker with age, and the pale lid falls away to reveal the egg-like peridioles. Each peridium or nest contains typically four or five silvery flattened eggs. While the outside of a peridium is covered with fine grey-brown to orange-brown hairs, the inner surface hairless but fluted vertically, referred to in both the common name and the specific epithet. Peridia are 6 to 10 mm across and 6 to 15 mm tall, with a steady taper outwards towards the rim. The individual peridioles are typically 1 to 2 mm across. The lid, known as an epiphragm, that covers young fruitbodies and prevents rain entering until the eggs are ripe, is white, initially covered with brown hairs that later fall off. Often it is the glint of an epiphragm that betrays the presence of these well-camouflaged fungi to a casual passer by. The base of the cup tapers inwards to form a rudimentary stem.

Habitat:

This saprobic fungus is most often found in clusters on dead wood, particularly softwood, in open forests and on woodland edges, but Cyathus striatus also grows on wood chip that has been used as a mulch in parks and gardens. Well-rotted damp timber is the staple diet of the fluted bird's nest fungus, whose fruitbodies can be seen from early summer through to the onset of winter.

Notes:

Spotted in Kroondomein Het Loo in rural area of Apeldoorn, Holland.(sources:see reference)