Order Pezizales—Cup Fungi 
ORDER PEZIZALES—CUP FUNGI 
The Pezizales 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, Peziza, 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. 
Peziza eruginosa 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. Peziza 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 Peziza Willkommii at work. 
Peziza odorata (Edible) 
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'-ra-{{n-6'-sd Wil-kdm’1-iO'-dér-a’-td Section to show two layers 
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