Where’s Wildlife · Mushroom Field Guide
Urnula craterium
Pronounced (approx.): UR-noo-luh kruh-TEER-ee-um
A dark, urn-shaped spring fungus whose opening broadens as it matures.
Devil’s Urn. Select the photo to browse the gallery. Photographs © Where’s Wildlife.
NATIVE
Fruiting varies with local weather and habitat.
Dark brown to nearly black cups
Urn-like young forms with a narrow opening
Short, often poorly defined stem
Compare cap shape, color and visible structures in the photographs below.
Look for a tough cup attached to hardwood debris. Buried sticks can make it appear to grow directly from soil.
Other dark cup fungi can look similar. Shape, texture, season and attachment to wood are useful checks; retain photographs of the base.
Woodland sticks and small hardwood logs, sometimes buried. Spring.
A decomposer of dead hardwood. Its relatively tough fruiting bodies can persist for weeks in suitable conditions.
The mouth widens with age.
The supporting stick may be underground.
The smooth inner surface is fertile.
Explore reported sightings on iNaturalist. Observation records are not a complete range map.
Photographs © Where’s Wildlife.
Identification notes & comments
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