Galiella rufa

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by Michael Kuo

"You got chocolate on my peanut butter!"

"No, you got peanut butter on my cup fungus!"

In early summer, east of the Rocky Mountains, Galiella rufa (formerly known as Bulgaria rufa) can be found in little clusters on sticks and small logs. Unlike many other cup fungi, its flesh is rubbery to gelatinous inside a tougher exterior, making it a squishy, peanut-butter-cup-ish thing. I doubt it tastes much like a peanut butter cup, however, and I have no inclination to try it; field guides do not list it as edible.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic on decaying hardwood sticks and logs; growing in clusters; early summer and summer; eastern North America to Minnesota.

Fruiting Body: Closed up and urn-like at first, becoming cup shaped, 2 to 4 cm. broad; fertile surface ("top" or "inner" surface) reddish tan to reddish brown, tough skinned, and smooth; sterile surface ("under" or "outer" surface) blackish, usually with tiny hairs (use a hand lens); stem typically absent--if present, to 1 cm--colored like and continuous with the sterile surface; flesh gelatinous-rubbery.

Microscopic Features: Spores 20 x 10 µ; elliptical; with narrowed ends and warts.

REFERENCES: (Schweinitz) Nannfeldt & Korf. (Bulgaria rufa.) (Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Arora, 1986; Lincoff, 1992.) Herb. Kuo 06019514, 06130202.

Bulgaria rufa is a synonym.

Further Online Information:

Bulgaria rufa at Roger's Mushrooms

Reeseus cupius at Hershey's Fungi.

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2002, June). Galiella rufa. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/galiella_rufa.html