KILDARE WILDLIFE COLUMN: Bath time for woodland elves in Lullymore

This week in your community you will find the leaves of Primrose emerging beneath your local hedgerows and treelines.

Primroses emerge early in the year to absorb sunlight and flower before the buds burst on trees.

Once the leaves emerge they limit light reaching the ground beneath the tree canopies, the plants growing beneath no longer get enough sunlight to continue their growth and in turn retreat below ground to conserve energy.

I was intending to write about Primrose this week, but as it is not yet in flower at the Bog of Allen Nature Centre, and while checking to see if it had emerged I found a much more brightly coloured wildlife species, Scarlet Elf Cup.

Its bright shade of red and cup shape makes it stand out amoungst the decaying leaves and branches. It is said to be a widespread fungus, however it does prefer the decaying branches of Willow, Hazel and Elm which, if are not present in your community, may limit the presence of this fungus.

It can be observed from January to April each year so you have plenty of time over the coming weeks to watch for it.

I remember when I was in school we learned of two kingdoms in nature, the animal kingdom and plant kingdom. Today, fungi is recognised as a third kingdom, as unlike the plant kingdom its members do not rely on photosynthesis — that is absorbing sunlight to make their own food. Fungi absorb nutrients to grow by decomposing leaves and fallen branches.

The Scarlet Elf Cup has a short stipe (stalk) measuring no more than 3.5cms which helps it to attach itself to these branches and leaves.

Like all fungi, Scarlet Elf Cup reproduces by spores which are white in this particular fungi.

I am not aware of any use that we may have had for this fungi in the past, however it is said that the woodland fairies use it as a bath and indeed the woodland elves use it as a cup!

If you spot a local wildlife species and would like to learn more send your wildlife image to [email protected].