Scarlet elf cup

Description:

This saprobic fungus grows on decaying sticks and branches in damp spots on forest floors, generally buried under leaf litter or in the soil.

Notes:

The red color of the fruit bodies is due to five types of carotenoid pigments, including plectaniaxanthin and beta-carotene. Sarcoscypha coccinea was used as a medicinal fungus by the Oneida Indians, and possibly by other tribes of the Iroquois Six Nations.