By Andrea Arnold
Elves, dwarves and pixies have to drink very quickly if they use this fungus as a water vessel. These little mushroom cups, commonly known as charcoal loving elf-cup, dwarf acorn cup, stalked bonfire cup or pixie cup, didn’t hold water droplets very long following a downpour on the morning.
This fungus feeds on decomposing organic matter remaining after a fire, and is quickly spreading across the charred ground left from last year’s Teare Creek fire.
Wikipedia is more scientific in their name, Geopyxis carbonaria. The small, goblet-shaped fruitbodies of the fungus are reddish-brown with a whitish fringe and measure up to 2 centimetres (3⁄4 in) across. They have a short, tapered stalk. The fungus is distributed throughout many temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is found in Europe, Turkey, and North America
