Sarcoscypha austriaca

A vernal species with bowl- or cup-shaped apothecia 2 to 4.5 cm in diameter, vivid red inside and whitish to pinkish on the outside, growing on decaying fallen wood of broadleaves such as alders or willows.

Excipular hairs on the outer surface arising from the ectal excipulum, 4 to 5 µm wide.

Asci cylindrical, eight-spored, operculate, short-stalked, 350 to 480 µm long, 12 to 16 µm wide, with uniseriate spore arrangement inside the ascus, and without any reaction in Melzer's reagent in either wall or apical apparatus (inamyloid).

Paraphyses filiform, slender, septate, branched from the base, up to 4.5 µm wide, containing vivid red granular content inside responsible for their characteristic color, projecting slightly above the asci (up to 20 µm).

Ascospores subcylindrical to slightly ellipsoidal, smooth, hyaline, slightly thick-walled, 25 to 35 µm long, 10 to 14 µm wide, containing numerous oil droplets up to 3 µm inside. A defining characteristic of the species is the truncate (flattened) apices, often even with a slight central depression.