Calycina citrina

Yellow Fairy Cups

Tiny, bright lemon-yellow discs that grow in dense crowds on rotting barkless hardwood, especially beech. It is one of the most common small cup fungi but is easily overlooked. Long known as Bisporella citrina, it was moved to Calycina after molecular work in 2013 showed the two genera were synonymous.

Species profile

Edibility

Not edible

Inedible; far too small to be food.

Never eat a wild mushroom based on a web page — confirm with an expert.

Mycology is an evolving science: names, classifications and safety information change as research advances. Entries are compiled from cited sources and reviewed, but may be incomplete or out of date — check the sources, and never rely on this library alone to identify or eat a mushroom.

Habitat

Saprobic in dense clusters on rotten deciduous wood that has lost its bark, especially beech; also recorded on fruit bodies of the polypore Daedaleopsis confragosa. Fruits in late summer and autumn.

Help build this page

This page grows with the community. Here is what it is still missing:

Photos. None yet — moderators review each photo before it appears.Sign in to add a photo
Sightings. Spotted it in the wild? Add it to the map.Open the map
Strains. No public strains of this species on WeMush yet.

Track Your Own Yellow Fairy Cups Grows

Join WeMush to log cultivation data, discover strains, and connect with fellow growers.

Join WeMush

Characteristics

Fruiting body: begins as a closed globule, opening to a shallow cup or disc, usually under 3 mm wide and up to 1 mm high. Upper surface: smooth, bright yellow. Outer surface: paler yellow. Stem: broad, short or nearly absent, rarely over 1 mm. Dried: wrinkled, dull orange-brown. Spore print: white. Spores: 8-14 x 3-5 um, roughly elliptical, smooth, one-septate at maturity with an oil drop at each end. Pigment: mainly beta-carotene.