A large, brittle, brown spring cup fungus whose inner surface develops vein-like ridges that radiate from the center. Its flesh smells strongly of bleach (chlorine) when broken. Despite its cup shape it belongs to the morel family, Morchellaceae.
Edibility disputed; not recommended. Some sources call it a choice edible after thorough cooking, but it may be poisonous raw, and First Nature advises against eating it because other spring cups are easily confused with it. Peziza species, some of them poisonous, lack the bleach odor, have thinner flesh and stain blue in iodine. Discina species (pig's ears) have wrinkled rather than veined surfaces and spindle-shaped spores with oil drops. Full safety details in notes.
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Habitat
On the ground in spring, among moss, in needle litter or in open grassland, often under beech or other hardwoods and also under conifers; favors banks and slopes and edges of melting snowbanks. It may be facultatively ectomycorrhizal, like morels.
Distribution
North America (April to June, notably from the Lower Midwest to New York) and Europe, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, including Britain and Ireland (March to May).
Characteristics
Fruit body: 3-15 cm, sometimes up to 20 cm across; cup-shaped at first, then a shallow bowl, often splitting and flattening against the ground; inner (fertile) surface brown, smooth when young, becoming wrinkled into raised, radiating veins; outer surface whitish, roughened to pustulate. Stem: very short or absent, anchoring the cup to the soil. Flesh: brittle, with a strong bleach-like odor when broken. Spore print: pale yellowish. Spores: about 19-25 x 12-15 um, ellipsoid, smooth, without oil droplets (First Nature; Wikipedia).
