Alder Goblet, Ciboria caucus

Yesterday we went for a walk by the River Wensum in Norwich, by Sweetbriar Marshes. It was sunny and there was warmth in the air and with a bit of imagination you could believe it was spring. We even saw a few Lesser Celandines and a single Marsh Marigold in flower, and a couple of interesting flies.

Above us in the Common Alder trees, a flock of Siskins was feeding on Alder cones. Beneath our feet, near the side of the path, we found Scarlet Elfcups and, a little further on, the fungus we’d come to look for: Alder Goblet, Ciboria caucus.

Alder Goblet, Ciboria caucus, is an ascomycete fungus, in the family Sclerotiniaceae. Although many of the family are plant pathogens (fungi which cause plant diseases), Alder Goblet is a saprophyte (it feeds on decaying organic matter). Alder Goblets are found on the previous year’s fallen male Common Alder catkins. Sometimes willow or poplar catkins can be used instead.

Alder Goblets are small, up to 1cm across. The fruit body is cup-shaped but becomes flatter with age. The cup is pale brown and its inner surface is smooth, while the outer surface has a downy appearance.

If you gently remove an Alder Goblet from the surrounding mosses and leaf litter you will see that it has a long, wavy stem that attaches to the remains of a male catkin. Sometimes a single catkin can have more than one Alder Goblet growing on it.

Alder Goblet on male alder catkin

Now until April is a good time to see Alder Goblets. Sterry and Hughes describe them  as being widespread and common in the British Isles. There is a map of sightings on the NBN Atlas website. Roger Phillips’ fungi book includes the Alder Goblet, which he describes as “not edible”. Alder Goblets aren’t included in the Collins Fungi Guide by Buczacki et. al.

Further afield, Alder Goblets can be found in other parts of Europe, including Denmark (there are some good photos on the Danmarks svampeatlas website), the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Russia, Bulgaria, Norway and Finland, as well as British Columbia, Washington and Oregon in the Pacific north-west of North America.

Closer to home, James Emerson has found Alder Goblets at Thorpe Marsh, to the east of Norwich (February 2017), and at Titchwell RSPB Reserve (February 2018) and has written about them in his ‘Birds and Beer’ blog.

A related species, Ciboria batschiana, grows on fallen acorns. It is described by Sterry and Hughes as “widespread but occasional” in England. I will keep a look out for it, as it has been recorded in Norfolk.

Siskins were feeding on Common Alder cones, as we searched for Alder Goblets.