Bird's Nest Fungus:Cyathus striatus

Sporocarp
Fruiting body cup-shaped, the base narrow, flaring upward, 0.5-1.0 cm tall, 0.4-0.8 cm broad, tough, persistent, the mouth covered with an evanescent, whitish, pubescent membrane; outer surface faintly grooved, shaggy with grey-brown to dark-brown hairs, in age matted to roughened; inner surface shiny-smooth, conspicuously grooved or ribbed; peridioles (eggs) light-grey to dark-grey, smooth, flattened, attached to the cup by a short, elastic cord (funiculus).

Spores
Spores 14-20 x 8-10 µm, elliptical, smooth; spores hyaline.

Habitat
Scattered to clustered on sticks, wood chips, and other woody debris; fruiting from mid to late winter.

Edibility
Unknown. Too tough and small to be of culinary value.

Comments
The combination of a shaggy outer cup surface and a conspicuously striate inner surface make it unlikely to confuse Cyathus striatus with any other bird's nest. Cyathus olla and C. stercoreus resemble it but lack the striate feature.