Plate 094 · on rotting wood, in the rain IdentificationFive marks on the plate
- 1Funnel-shaped cup, hairy and brown outside.
- 2Grey peridioles, lens-shaped, holding the spores.
- 3Smooth or fluted inner wall, depending on the species.
- 4White epiphragm sealing young cups.
- 5A launched peridiole with its coiled funiculus.
Easily confused with Common bird's nestCrucibulum laeveSmooth yellowish cup with whitish peridioles. 094 / 100 · FUNGI & LICHENS · NIDULARIACEAENOT EVALUATED Bird's nest fungus
Cyathus sp.
Nido de pájaro · Splash-cup fungus
It looks like a tiny nest full of eggs. The "eggs" are packets of spores, and rain is their engine: a drop falling into the cup throws them about a metre. In Tucumán it turns up in the foothills of the Sierra de San Javier.
- Cup
- 4 – 8 mm wide
- Altitude
- c. 400 – 1,200 m
- Range of throw
- c. 1 m
- Substrate
- wood, dung, humus
- Rain-splash dispersal
- Tiny
- Rotting wood
- Species to confirm
Altitude rangeHumid foothills
Tucumán records Tucumán records come from Yerba Buena, Horco Molle and Tafí Viejo, at the foot of the range. It probably reaches higher.
EcologyRecycles small debris
- Rotting woodTwigs, wood chips, mulch
- RaindropsLaunch the peridioles
- Humus and dungAlternative substrate
- Grazing animalsEat leaves carrying peridioles
The peridioles stick to leaves and stems. If a grazing animal eats them, the spores may leave in its dung somewhere else.
Life cycleA splash cup
- Closed cup. The young cup is sealed by a white membrane, the epiphragm, which breaks as it matures.
- Launched by a drop. The sloping cup wall turns the drop's energy upward and throws out the peridioles.
- Sticky cord. Each peridiole trails a cord, the funiculus, which wraps around nearby stems and leaves.
Where to look in Tucumán- Reserva Experimental Horco Molle
- Sierra de San Javier
- Quebrada de Lules