Sarcoscypha dudleyi

The fruit body is 2–6 cm (3⁄4–2+1⁄4 in) broad and shallowly to deeply cup-shaped. The exterior surface of the fruit body is covered with whitish, matted "hairs", while the interior fertile surface of the cup (the hymenium) is scarlet- to orange-red. The edge of the cup (or margin) is curved inwards in young fruit bodies. The stem, if present at all, is short. The asci are 400–500 by 12–14 μm, cylindrical, and operculate. The ascospores are elliptical to cylindrical with rounded ends, uniseriate, hyaline, and measure 26–40 by 10–12 μm. They contain two large oil drops at either end; the oil drops are useful taxonomic characters that may be used to help distinguish S. dudleyi from some other Sarcoscypha species. The spores are covered with a sheath of mucilage, which typically causes the eight spores of the ascus to be ejected together. The paraphyses (sterile filamentous hyphal end cells in the hymenium) are slender, slightly enlarged above, and contain numerous red granules. The granules contain carotenoid pigments such as plectaniaxanthine or beta carotene, and give the fruit body its color.

Anamorph form. Anamorphic or imperfect fungi are those that seem to lack a sexual stage in their life cycle, and typically reproduce by the process of mitosis in structures called conidia. …

Sarcoscypha dudleyi is a saprobic species, and derives nutrients by breaking down the complex insoluble polysaccharides found in woody material, such as cellulose and lignin. Fruit bodies are found growing singly or in very small groups, and are attached to buried or partially buried sticks in forests. Basswood has been noted to be a preferred wood type for the species. Fruit bodies typically appear during early spring, but may occasionally also in late fall. Although the distribution appears to be largely restricted to the eastern United States, it was once reported in Bulgaria in 1994, representing the first European collection.

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