Cup fungus

Cup fungi are fungi which produce a mushroom that tend to grow in the shape of a "cup". One of the most famous mushrooms, the morel, is a cup fungus which contains multiple cups on the end of a stalk. The cup shape typically serves to focus raindrops into splashing spores out of the cup. Additionally, their curvature enable wind currents to blow the spores out in a different manner than in most agarics and boletes

Cup fungi often grow in peculiar shapes, such as the birds nest fungus which looks just like a miniature bird's nest - complete with eggs. Another is the orange peel fungus, which looks just like a discarded orange rind. Often they have beautiful colors, such as the scarlet cup, which is often one of the first signs of spring where it grows.

While most cup fungi are not poisonous, as with all mushroom hunting, one should never consume a mushroom unless they have a positive identification of it first.