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Scarlet elfcup

 

 

Actually we can find the brightly coloured elfcup throughout nearly all winter but in small numbers. In Estonia it has always been considered as a spring herald and we do see them much more often in April.

 

It prefers to grow in damp places, on rotting pieces of wood lying on the ground. The inside of the cup is brightly red, the outside grey with a dense feltlike layer of hairs, and the fungi can have diameters up to 5 centimetres. In literature it is classified as non-edible but snails still feed on them ... Among people the concept of what fungi are edible has evolved over centuries and even thousands of years, but modern science is re-evaluating it, clarifying where necessary and making adjustments.