I am trapped in Dubai (again) by the vagaries of UK travel policy around Covid and back to living vicariously at Oaklands through the medium of pictures and short films sent to me by Jane. We are both now vaccinated. The bulk of the UAE and 4o % of the UK is vaccinated - but the government in its wisdom has cancelled all flights between the UAE and the UK as a "Red List" country. I would have to spend 10 days in a Best Western somewhere off the M5 to protect - well who ? The main at risk categories are now vaccinated ! "Hallas" as we say over here in the Gulf or "it will all come out in the wash" as my Mother says. Bring on pet passports for expats.
This leaves me frustratingly to deal with the taxonomy of fungi remotely again from 3,500 miles away. I was very excited to see a trio of pictures of small bright red mushrooms growing in the debris and leaf litter in the wood snapped on Jane's phone. I have never seen one - I have still never seen one ! So here are three more just to rub my nose in it.
Scarlet and Ruby Elfcups cannot be separated without a microscope so I will have to satisfy myself with the general rule that Scarlet - Sarcoscphya austriaca is now recorded more often in the United Kingdom. Neither species is "common" but rather scarce if "widespread". This description of distribution would confuse me when I first re-started birding as an adult twenty years ago but essentially "widespread" describes the geographical distribution rather than the number of incidences. Put another way you could find them all over the United Kingdom but only if you are lucky.
Both Elf cups need a good damp patch in a wood but scarlet will appear mostly on Hazel, Sycamore and Willow whereas ruby prefers Beech and Elm but also Hazel. I am going to plop for Scarlet Elf cup then unless Jane can re-trace her steps and discover the rotten twig itself and identify it as Hazel in which case the jury stays out. Here is another Elf cup I haven't seen before we move on to folklore and uses.
Can you believe these are considered edible - in fact they are recommended for stir fries or to be "sprinkled decoratively onto a salad". If I haven't managed to tempt Jane with a Puffball or a Trooping Funnel I really do not think that a crisp Winter salad decorated with Elf cups is going to tempt.
They are harmless though even if unappetising to the eye. I am reliably informed by Scandinavian mystics that Wood Elves really do use these mushrooms as cups - I can only imagine that they have moved into the former wendy house on the edge of the wood although they will competing with the Laurel logs that I have been stacking up there for the last year.
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