''Peziza cerea'', commonly known as the Cellar Cup is a species of ascomycete fungus in the genus ''

Peziza ''Peziza'' is a large genus of saprophytic cup fungi that grow on the ground, rotting wood, or dung. Most members of this genus are of unknown edibility and are difficult to identify as separate species without use of microscopy. The polyphyleti ...

'', family

Pezizaceae The Pezizaceae (commonly referred to as cup fungi) are a family of fungi in the Ascomycota which produce mushrooms that tend to grow in the shape of a "cup". Spores are formed on the inner surface of the fruit body (mushroom). The cup shape typ ...

. In common with other ascomycetes the upper surface of the fungus has a layer of cylindrical spore producing cells called

asci ASCI or Asci may refer to: * Advertising Standards Council of India * Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy * Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative * American Society for Clinical Investigation * Argus Sour Crude Index * Association of ...

, from which the ascospores are forcibly discharged.

Description

A yellow grey to beige fungus internally, less than 5 cm across with a granular or brittle flesh. The stype is placed in a lateral position, but is small or even entirely absent. The spore colour is white, cream or yellowish; they are elliptical and smooth. The cup exterior is white in colour.

Characteristics

''Peziza cerea'' can be initially identified by its growth in cellars, damp mortar, soil between pavement slabs, on rotting sandbags, plant material or manure. Found all year round. Its upper surface (at maturity) is usually somewhat wrinkled near the centre; a whitish and minutely fuzzy under surface; a round, cuplike shape when young, and a flattened-irregular shape when mature. The hymenium contains

, ascospores and

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the fe ...

. Paraphyses are sterile cells' often with swollen tips and are at high turgor pressure. Tips of the paraphyses are very tightly together at the surface of the hymenium and create a barrier; the epithecium. A high osmotic pressure in the cells of the epithecium prevent marauding microfauna that would otherwise penetrate and feed on the rich protoplasm below. To disperse spores, asci push between the paraphyses from below, shoot off their spores then collapse.Peziza cerea description. Accessed : 2010-05-02
/ref> The name ''Peziza'' means a sort of mushroom without a root or stalk.

Ecology

Paths and cellars may sport the Cellar Cup fungus, which is

saprobic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi (f ...

Edibility

''P. cerea'' is inedible.Roger Philip's Mushrooms

Distribution

''P. cerea'' is widely distributed throughout America and Europe

References

External links

Google Images. Accessed : 2010-05-02Images of ''P. cerea''. Accessed : 2010-05-02Wild About Britain. Accessed : 2010-05-02
(link broken) {{DEFAULTSORT:Peziza Cerea Pezizaceae Fungi of North America Fungi of Europe Taxa named by James Sowerby