dung-loving bird's nest

Description:

he fruiting bodies, or perida, are funnel- or barrel-shaped, 6–15 mm tall, 4–8 mm wide at the mouth, sometimes short-stalked, golden brown to blackish brown in age.[3] The outside wall of the peridium, the ectoperidium, is covered with tufts of fungal hyphae that resembles shaggy, untidy hair. However, in older specimens this outer layer of hair (technically a tomentum) may be completely worn off. The internal wall of the cup, the endoperidium, is smooth and grey to bluish-black. The 'eggs' of the bird's nest – the peridioles – are blackish, 1–2 mm in diameter,[3] and there are typically about 20 in the cup.[4] Peridioles are often attached to the fruiting body by a funiculus, a structure of hyphae that is differentiated into three regions: the basal piece, which attaches it to the inner wall of the peridium, the middle piece, and an upper sheath, called the purse, connected to the lower surface of the peridiole. In the purse and middle piece is a coiled thread of interwoven hyphae called the funicular cord, attached at one end to the peridiole and at the other end to an entangled mass of hyphae called the hapteron. The spores of C. stercoreus are roughly spherical and relatively large, with typical dimensions of 20–35 x 20–25 µm,[3] although great variability in spore size has been noted.

Habitat:

In cows manure