may be expected during the different periods of the year. These 

 usually occur in shaded places in woods, in the borders of woods, 

 or more rarely in open places. 



Early Spring Species 



The scarlet cup (Sarcoscypha coccinea) is one of the first to 

 appear in the spring as soon as the frost is out of the ground. 

 The cups grow from sticks in the woods and are externally 

 whitish wath the interior scarlet-red and reach a diameter of one 

 or two inches. Like some of the early spring flowers if the 

 season is sufficiently open the scarlet cup may rarely be found in 

 the late autumn apparently in anticipation of the springtime. 



The black urn {Urnula Craterium) like the preceding occurs 

 early in the spring from March to May or rarely extending over 

 to June. It first appears in the form of a row of black fingers 

 growing from partially buried sticks. Later these club-shaped 

 bodies open and expand into the form of an urn suggesting the 

 above name. The fruiting bodies when mature are two or three 

 inches across and supported by a stout stem. 



The tuberous cup-fungi (Sclerotinia tuherosa and Sclerotinia 

 Geranii) have been collected together in the same restricted 

 region for a number of years, their fruiting season being limited 

 to April and May. The appearance of the two named species 

 can be predicted in that place next spring with as much certainty 

 as the appearance of any of the flowering plants which persist 

 in the ground from year to year. 



The spring mushroom (Morchella esculenta) or "honeycomb" 

 mushroom as it is sometimes called makes its appearance in 

 this section almost exclusively in the month of May, although it 

 may come in April a little further south. All of the specimens 

 seen from New York State were collected in May. This species 

 may also be found year after year in the same place and is one 

 of the most important edible species of cup-fungi. 



Late Spring or Summer Species 



Closely related to the large scarlet cup which appears so early 

 in the spring are the hairy cup and the smaller western form of 

 the scarlet cup {Sarcoscypha floccosa and Sarcoscypha occidentalis) . 

 In sharp contrast to the scarlet cup these forms occur from May 



