Spring Hazelcup

Today's find is a cracker! Well, I say "today's", husband spotted it on a walk through Horton Wood yesterday and took me to see it today.

The young fruit bodies, growing on hazel, look like funny little pouches:

 

... and then open up into these ragged little round dishes.

There's only one thing in the book that looks like this, and it's Spring Hazelcup Encoelia furfuracea.

The Collins' Complete Guide says it's "widespread but uncommon", and Jordan's Fungi describes it as "infrequent". So potentially an interesting find.

Here's another colony from the same patch of woodland today:

STOP PRESS!!! 
26/01/16
Just heard from Nick Aplin (Sussex Fungus Group) and Martin Allison (Sussex Fungi Recorder) that this record is officially "a good record" - they've never seen this in Sussex before, despite deliberate searching. And there are just a handful of previous records for this species in Sussex. This could be the first Sussex sighting THIS CENTURY!

So that's exciting. Must go back with a GPS and get a 10 figure grid reference.

For the record
Date: 24/01/15 CORRECTION - 24/01/2016
Location: Horton Wood, Small Dole
Grid reference: TQ208127 (site centroid)