Ascomycetes are a large and diverse group of fungi that create spores inside a microscopic sac. They are identified by this unique spore-producing structure, which is often contained within larger, visible cup or flask-like fruiting bodies.

Name: Charcoal Cup Peziza echinospora

Description: The cups are up to 10cm in diameter. The inner surface is dark brown and smooth while the outer surface is pale, sometimes almost white, and rough.

Habitat:  Associated with sites where bonfires have taken place. Often found on burnt wood chips from late spring until early autumn.

Name: Charcoal Cup Peziza echinospora

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Name: Elfin Saddle Helvella lacunosa

Description: Lead-grey, with caps, 2 - 4cm across, that are often distorted. This fungus stands 4 - 10cm tall.

Habitat: Found in leaf litter of broadleaf trees. Has a preference for rich soil and burnt ground.

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Name: Short-haired Disco Lachnum brevipilosum

Description: Tiny, white caps and stipes. The name refers to the short hairs that are visible on the apothecia (cup-shaped fruiting bodies). 

Habitat: Saprobic fungus with very tiny fruiting bodies that grow in large groups underneath rotten logs.

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Name: Common Eyelash Scutellinia scutellata

Description: Tiny saprophytic fungus, <=4mm across, with eyelashes around the edge of its orange cups.

Habitat:  Grows on well-rotted wood in damp habitats.

Name: Common Eyelash Scutellinia scutellata

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Name: Greater Toothed Cup Tazzeta catinus

Description: The tiny caps, 1.5 to 5cm across, are often gregarious. True identification is near impossible without microscopic examination due to similar species.

Habitat: Found on soil, rotten wood and woodchips. Associated with beech and hornbeam.

Name: Greater Toothed Cup Tazzeta catinus

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Name: Glazed Cup Humaria hemisphaerica

Description: Tiny cup fungus, 20 - 30mm across. The brown outer surface is covered entirely in stiff, brown hairs.

Habitat:  Has a preference for soil and rotten hardwood.

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Name: Orange Peel Fungus Aleuria aurantia

Description: The bright orange cups often resemble orange peel. Its cups, 1 - 4cm across, are often misshapen due to being crowded together with other fruiting bodies.

Habitat: Found on disturbed soil near woodland paths with a preference for exposed locations. As well as Hainault Forest, this species has also be seen in All Saints Graveyard at Chigwell Row.

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HELOTIACEAE 

Green Elfin Cup

Chlorociboria aeruginascens

Found on rotting wood of broadleaf trees.

LEOTIACEAE

Purple Jellydisc

Ascocoryne sarcoides

Found on dead beech wood during autumn. The fruiting bodies normally appear in patches. They are often shaped irregularly and not disc-like at all. With maturity the disc shapes can become more obvious.

HELOTIACEAE 

Oak Pin

Cudoniella acicularis

Found on oak branches.

HELOTIACEAE 

Beech Jelly Disc

Neobulgaria pura

Found on fallen trunks and branches of European Beech Fagus sylvatica.

HYPOCREACEAE

Coral Spot

Nectria cinnabarina

Coral-coloured blobs grow in clusters on decaying deciduous wood. The individual blobs are 1-4mm across and very hard. Associated with beech woodland.

MORCHELLACEAE

Semi-free Morel

Morchella semilibera

Found in leaf litter along path edges.

PEZIZACEAE

Pedicel Cup

Peziza micropus

Grows on very rotten dead hardwood, especially beech, often inside hollow stumps.

PYROMEMATACEAE

Tan Ear

Otidea alutacea

Buff-coloured fungus, also known as Brown Clustered Ear Cup.

PYROMEMATACEAE

Toad's Ear

Otidea bufonia

Saprobic cup fungus sometimes found near woodland paths.

PYROMEMATACEAE

Hare's Ear

Otidea bufonia

Found in broad-leaved woodland soil often fruiting in small clustered groups.

SARCOSCYPHACEAE

Scarlet Elfcup

Sarcoscypha austriaca

Usually appears during winter months on dead twigs. Has a preference for damp shaded locations where it is usually found partially buried in moss.

RUTSTROEMIACEAE

Brown Cup

   Rutstroemia firma

Found on Oak Quercus twigs.

SCLEROTINIACEAE

Acorn Rot

Ciboria batschiana

Causes black rot on old acorns usually in wet and cold weather.

XYLARIACEAE

King Alfred's Cakes

Daldinia concentrica

Pinkish-brown fungus that blackens with age. Concentric growth rings are revealed when cut in half, hence 'concentrica' in the Latin name. Usually on dead or dying ash tree wood.  Also known as 'Crampball fungus'.

XYLARIACEAE

Beech Woodwart

Hypoxylon fragiforme

Appears as small warty growths on beech wood. The brick-red rounded fruiting bodies are up to a centimetre across. With age the warts blacken and harden.

XYLARIACEAE

Birch Woodwart

Hypoxylon multiforme

Found on dead Birch Betula wood on the ground. 

XYLARIACEAE

Candlesnuff

Xylaria hypoxylon

Common wood-rotting fungus seen throughout the year. It has stick-like or forked fruiting bodies with black bases and white powdery tips. Height 10-60mm.

XYLARIACEAE

Dead Moll's Fingers

Xylaria longipes

Found in damp habitats feeding on dead or dying wood, usually beech or sycamore. Its club-shaped fruiting bodies are 2-8 cm in height, and up to 2 cm thick. The fingers often appear in tufts similar to fingers of a dead hand.