Pithya vulgaris  

A conspicuous orange-yellow discomycete with unstalked fruitbodies 3-6(-10) mm diam., occurring on needles or bark of Pinaceae.

Apothecia 3 - 6 (-10) mm diam., scattered, not stalked. Disc flat (to domed if overmature), orange-yellow, often brownish when dry. Margin slightly wrinkled. Fruitbody disc-shaped or shallow cup-shaped, paler than disc, basal hyphae apparently lacking. Asci cylindric, tapered below, 15 - 17 µm diam., 8-spored. Spores globose, 10 - 11.5 µm diam., hyaline, smooth, in one row within the ascus. Paraphyses often branched or lobed, septate, irregularly enlarged towards the apex to 4 - 6.5 µm diam. On bark or rarely needles of Pinaceae. Anamorph apparently lacking.

Description adapted from Spooner, B. (2002). The larger cup fungi in Britain: part 4: Sarcoscyphaceae and Sarcosomataceae. Field Mycology, 3(1), 9-14.