January 1998. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Common Name Bladder Cup Fruiting Body Urn shaped, inner surface smooth, white then yellow-brown, outer surface white, then yellow-brown, scurfy, to about 10cm across Flesh Pale brown, thick, brittle Smell Indistinct Taste Indistinct Season All year Distribution Common Habitat On manure, rotting straw, and rich soil Spore Print White Microscopic Features Spores ellipsoidal, smooth (20-24) x (11-15)µm2. Asci (320-380) x (18-25)µm2. Asci tips blued in iodine. Paraphyses equal, septate, slightly swollen at tips. Edibility Poisonous unless well cooked Notes Most Peziza species cannot be identified without microscopy. This species is often confused with P. repanda which can also grow on rotted manure. It is distinguished macroscopically by the urn shaped fruiting bodies, and the thick flesh 
2 May 2008 Bedfordshire. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. |