Fungus · GBIF taxon 2594936
Bristly Tropical Cup
Cookeina tricholomaAlso known as Hairy Cup Fungus, Bristly Cup Fungus
Bristly tropical cups dot the damp, shadowed floor of humid rainforests, erupting from fallen branches and decaying hardwood twigs. Deep goblet-shaped apothecia gleam in shades of coral pink, orange, or crimson, densely fringed with stiff, pale hairs that help trap a humid microclimate around developing spores. When slight air currents disturb the cup or moisture shifts, hundreds of microscopic asci simultaneously burst, releasing clouds of ascospores into the forest understory.
FungusTropicalDecomposer
1 / 7—observations
—countries
—peak records
Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed List categories, explained →
Diet & prey
- Decaying hardwood
- Lignin
- Cellulose
Predators
- Fungus gnat larvae
- Land snails
- Staphilinid beetles
ThreatsCanopy clearance, microclimate desiccation, and rainforest habitat loss
HabitatsLowland tropical rainforests, cloud forests, and humid subtropical woods
Life spanFruiting bodies persist 1–3 weeks; mycelium survives years in decaying wood
Size / weightNot available
Classification
- FamilySarcoscyphaceae
- SpeciesCookeina tricholoma
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Many wild fungi have toxic look-alikes; never eat wild mushrooms based on app identification alone.
Responsible observation
- Substrate Search: Inspect fallen, bark-covered branches in humid ravine bottoms after heavy tropical rains.
- Macro Inspection: Use a hand lens to study the intricate, translucent hairs lining the cup rim.
Look-alike (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
Close Relative (c) Alan Rockefeller, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Alan Rockefeller · cc-by
Close Relative (c) Jeremy Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by
Family Relative This image was created by user Ryane Snow (snowman) at Mushroom Observer, a source for mycological images.You can contact this user here. / CC BY-SA 3.0 · cc-by-sa
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