Cyathus sp.
Photo: Bart Wursten, in horse manure, nr Eggardon Hill.
Small, gregarious, cup-shaped fungi, usually less than 10 mm in diameter, growing in decomposing plant material. The top is closed by a thin membrane when young. The cup-shaped receptacle holds a number of tiny, greyish, egg-like structures, called peridioles, which contain the spores. These peridioles are ejected from the receptacle by raindrops falling into the cup, the inside of which may be smooth in some species (see photo) or grooved in others.
