Cyathus-striatus_7

Description:

Cyathus striatus (Huds.:Pers.) Willd.Fluted Bird's Nest, DE: Gestreifter TeuerlingSlo.: rtkani koekDat.: July 30. 2014Lat.: 46.36037 Long.: 13.70408Code: Bot_819/2014_DSC2282Habitat: abandoned and overgrown pasture, under Picea abies, slightly sloped southeast, shallow skeletal calcareous ground, old overgrown slope scree, in shade, warm and medium dry place, partly protected from direct rain by tree canopies, average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, elevation 580 m (1.900 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.Substratum: apparently on soil but more probably on small pieces of wood debris (Picea abies, Ostrya carprinifolia, Fagus sylvatica most probable) buried in ground.Place: Lower Trenta valley, between villages Soa and Trenta, right bank of river Soa, near Trenta 2 farm house, East Julian Alps, Posoje, Slovenia EC Comments: Cyathus striatus is a common species, but in spite of this it is rarely seen because of its small size and perfect blending in its habitat. To find its not yet mature, shaggy,brown fruit bodies in forest ground is almost impossible until one crawls on his knees through the woods. When the fruit bodies open, but are still covered by a whitish scurfy membrane, the chances to notice white small, round circles on ground are at maximum. However, the membrane soon raptures to reveal the 'eggs' and disappears. The tiny 'eggs' (spore bearing peridioles), not much more than 1 mm in diameter, and the brown-gray-blackish fruit bodies again become well hidden in ground debris and hard to find. Cyathus striatus can be easily distinguished from other species of this genus growing in Slovenia by its radially striate interior of peridium (wall of the 'nest').Growing solitary and in small groups of a few fruit bodies, about a dozen fruit bodies found on 1 x 1 m plot. They are of 8-10 mm diameter and up to 15 mm tall. From unknown reason I was unable to get spores although a few sporocarps and their peridioles appear mature and in good shape. Herbarium: Mycotheca and lichen herbarium (LJU-Li) of Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vena pot 2, Ljubljana, Index Herbariorum LJFRef.:(1) G.J. Krieglsteiner (Hrsg.), Die Grosspilze Baden-Wrttembergs, Band 2., Ulmer (2000), p 159. (2) D. Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley (1986), p 780. (3) S. Buczacki, Collins Fungi Guide, Collins (2012), p 442.(4) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.2.,Verlag Mykologia (1986), p