Summary[
edit] Description: English: A fungus - Coprobia granulata. This species is one of the so-called cup-fungi (named for the shape of their discs). These were found only a metre or so north of a footpath that crosses the moor. This is a species that grows on dung, an unusual habitat that makes identification easier. The photograph shows the fungus growing in depressions on the flat surface of a cowpat. Several Cheilymenia species are similar in that they also have orange discs and grow on dung, but their discs are fringed with tiny hairs which were not evident here; see
997525. Compare also the somewhat similar Eyelash Fungus (which grows on very rotten wood rather than dung):
925583. It also resembles the much larger Orange Peel Fungus:
989886, another cup-fungus. [Many lichens bear similar spore-producing discs on their surface. This is no coincidence: the outer layer of a lichen is made of fungal cells; these fungi are of a similar kind to the cup-fungi, and produce discs in much the same manner.] The species in this photo, Coprobia granulata, has a more or less flat disc, only a few millimetres across, with a raised edge. The outer margin of the disc is paler, and inspection through a hand-lens revealed it to be coarsely granular in appearance, as if coated with tiny sugar grains (this explains the specific name "granulata"). This is a widespread and very common species which can be seen all year round. Date: 1 October 2008. Source: From
geograph.org.uk. Author:
Lairich Rig. Attribution(
required by the license)Lairich Rig / A fungus - Coprobia granulata /
CC BY-SA 2.0. Lairich Rig / A fungus - Coprobia granulata. Camera location
55° 58′ 17″ N, 4° 35′ 46″ W View all coordinates using:
OpenStreetMap 55.971430; -4.596000. Object location
55° 58′ 17″ N, 4° 35′ 46″ W View all coordinates using:
OpenStreetMap 55.971430; -4.596000.