Orange Peel Fungus

(Aleuria aurantia)

Conservation Status
Orange Peel Fungus
Photo by Kirk Nelson
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Orange Peel Fungus is a conspicuous, widespread, and very common cup fungus.

It is found in summer and fall, usually on bare, often clayey soil, on roadsides, trails, and other disturbed areas. It is sometimes found on moss or grass. It may be scattered but usually grows in clusters of caps that sometimes fuse together.

There is no stalk.

The cap is round and cup-shaped when it first emerges, becoming saucer-shaped and flat or wavy when mature. When clustered, the caps are often irregularly shaped, contorted. Mature caps may be ¾ to 4 in diameter. The upper side is bright orange and hairless, fading to yellowish-orange with age. The underside is paler and densely covered with minute, white, downy hairs when young, becoming hairless as it ages. The margin is often wavy or lobed. There is no fringe of dark hairs on the margin.

The flesh is thin and brittle. It is edible but bland, fragile, and insubstantial.

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
  Stalked Orange Peel Fungus (Sowerbyella rhenana) is smaller, no more than ¾ in diameter, and is distinctly stalked. It is much less common in Minnesota.  
     
 
Habitat and Hosts
 
 

Bare ground

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Season

 
 

Summer and fall

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30.

 
  6/2/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Very common and widespread

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Fungi (fungi)  
  Subkingdom Dikarya  
  Phylum Ascomycota (sac fungi)  
  Subphylum Pezizomycotina  
  Class Pezizomycetes  
  Subclass Pezizomycetidae  
 

Order

Pezizales  
 

Family

Pyronemataceae  
 

Genus

Aleuria  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Aleuria aurantica

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Orange Peel Fungus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

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Honey Fae (Farah)

 
    Orange Peel Fungus   Orange Peel Fungus  
 

Jennifer Johnson

 
    Orange Peel Fungus      
 

Kirk Nelson

 
 

 

 
    Orange Peel Fungus   Orange Peel Fungus  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
 
     
     

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

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Other Videos
 
  Spring Orange Peel fungus spore liberation
embersmushrooms
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 12, 2011

Cup fungi sporulate when blown on. These Caloscypha were found in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in May.

   
  Orange peel fungus - spore release
saltpeterfilms
 
   
 
About

Published on Dec 14, 2009

Spores being ejected from the orange peel fungus following mechanical stimulation.

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this fungus.

 
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  Honey Fae (Farah)
5/26/2021

Location: Hennepin County

Orange Peel Fungus  
  Jennifer Johnson
4/18/2020

Location: Miesville Ravine Park Reserve

Orange Peel Fungus  
  Nancy
4/22 and 4/25 2018

Location: Oxbow park, near Byron MN (Olmsted county)

Saw in several different locations along hiking trail, always growing on small stick laying on forest floor.

 
  Kirk Nelson
9/4/2017

Location: Lebanon Hills Regional Park

Orange Peel Fungus  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

Binoculars


Created: 9/9/2017

Last Updated:

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