Order Pezizales Cup Fungi 



ORDER PEZIZALES CUP FUNGI 



The Females or cup fungi, which are typically disk or cup- 

 shape, comprise an extensive group, and vary in size from forms 

 scarcely visible to the naked eye to forms several inches in 

 diameter. One genus, Pe^a, has a smooth ascomata, regularly 

 saucer-shaped or cup-shaped. The genus contains many species 

 which are met with chiefly on decaying vegetable matter. The 

 spore-sacs are situated on the upper surfaces of the cups, and the 

 spores are ejected with such force and in such profusion that they 

 form a cloud around the plant from which they are expelled. 



Pe^a ceruginosa is a stalked green form, and is interesting 

 because it permeates the wood of oaks and beeches with its 

 mycelium, and gives a rich green colour to the wood, which 

 makes it valuable for the manufacture of the famous "Tunbridge 

 ware." One may often find the wood affected when the fruit 

 cups are not evident. Pe^a Willkommii produces on larch trees 

 a disease known as the "larch canker," which shows itself as a 

 sunken, blistered hole from which resin flows. This patch is 

 formed because the mycelium of the fungus attacks and destroys 

 the cambium or green layer which lies under the brown bark, 

 and since this is the tissue which builds up the wood of the 

 trees, the growth of wood in this part is prevented. The fruits 

 appear above the bark in the form of little cups, white outside 

 and scarlet within. When branches bearing golden-yellow 

 needles are seen among the fresh green shoots of a larch, pre- 

 maturely giving to the tree an autumnal appearance, one may 

 expect to find Peqiqa Willkommii at work. 



Peziza odorata (Edible) (SEE PLATE FACING PAGE 139) 



Cup Yellowish, translucent, becoming 

 dull brown when old. The flesh 

 is moist and watery, and separable 

 into two layers; the outer layer 

 rough, and the inner smooth. The 

 frame is cup-shaped when young, 

 but flattened and split on the mar- 

 gin when old. 



E'-ru-gln-o'-sa Wfl-kBm'-M O'-dfir-a'-ti Section to show two layers 



137 



