Cupcap Mushroom

Cupcap mushrooms are yellow-orange fungi with funnel-shaped caps, so named because the dips in the caps gather rainwater like a cup. They grow in symbiotic relationships with trees, and have defied extensive efforts to cultivate them.

Cupcaps are a prized mushroom in cooking, with a fruity smell and a mildly peppery taste. Most cupcaps are gathered in the wild by woodsmen, peasants, and even professional mushroom hunters, who sell them at market where they can fetch high prices before being carted off to wealthy tables. They are said to go well with garlic, and when cooked lightly, though they can also be pickled in brine.

Cupcaps resemble Lantern Cap Mushrooms, but the latter are highly poisonous.