Cyathus striatus
Syn. Meth. Fung.: 237. 1801.
Common Name: bird's nest fungus
Fruiting body cup-shaped, the base narrow, flaring upward, 0.5-1.0 cm tall, 0.4-0.8 cm broad, tough, persistent, the mouth covered with an evanescent, whitish, pubescent membrane; outer surface faintly grooved, shaggy with grey-brown to dark-brown hairs, in age matted to roughened; inner surface shiny-smooth, conspicuously grooved or ribbed; peridioles (eggs) light-grey to dark-grey, smooth, flattened, attached to the cup by a short, elastic cord (funiculus).
Spores 14-20 x 8-10 µm, elliptical, smooth; spores hyaline.
Scattered to clustered on sticks, wood chips, and other woody debris; fruiting from mid to late winter.
Unknown. Too tough and small to be of culinary value.
The combination of a shaggy outer cup surface and a conspicuously striate inner surface make it unlikely to confuse Cyathus striatus with any other bird's nest. Cyathus olla and C. stercoreus resemble it but lack the striate feature.
Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1986). Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 2: Non-Gilled Fungi. Verlag Mykologia: Luzern, Switzerland. 412 p.
Brodie, Harold J. (1975). The Bird's Nest Fungi. University of Toronto Press: Toronto, Canada. 200 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Ellis, M.B. & Ellis, J.P. (1990). Fungi without Gills (Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes). Chapman and Hall: London, England. 329 p.
Calonge, F.D. (1998). Flora Mycologica Iberica. Vol. 3. Gasteromycetes, I. Lycoperdales, Nidulariales, Phallales, Sclerodermatales, Tulostomatales. J. Cramer: Berlin, Germany. 271 p.
Coker, W.C. & Couch, J.N. (1974). The Gasteromycetes of the Eastern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, Inc: New York, NY. 201 p.
Pegler, D.N., Læssøe, T. & Spooner, B.M. (1995). British Puffballs, Earthstars, and Stinkhorns. Royal Botanic Gardens: Kew, England. 255 p.
