Crucibulum laeve

This is a Birds nest fungus. The fruit body is somewhat cup-like. When immature the mouth of the cup is covered by a membrane (the epiphragm). At maturity the epiphragm breaks to leave the mouth open and reveal the disk-like peridioles within the cup. Spores are produced within the peridioles. The fruit body is roughly cylindrical in shape, up to 8 millimetres tall and of similar width. The outer wall of the fruit body is initially yellow to brown and velvety to woolly but may become smooth with age.  The epiphragm is yellow-brown or mustard-yellow. The inner wall is smooth and greyish. The pale brown to whitish peridioles are attached to the inner wall of the fruit body by a cord (the funiculus).  

New fruit bodies may develop within old ones. The frequency of this phenomenon varies and sometimes, even in a very large group of fruit bodies you will not see a single example. This has also been seen in some other species of Birds nest fungi but seems to be most often seen (or at least commented on) in Crucibulum laeve.    

This cosmopolitan species appears on herbivore dung, small woody debris or forest litter.  

Look-alikes  

The combination of velvety/woolly yellow-brown outer surface; the epiphragm colour and pale brown to whitish peridioles should make this species hard to mistake. In Nidula the fruit bodies are also roughly cylindrical, have epiphragms – but lack funiculi. Epiphragms and funiculi are present in Cyathus. However, in that genus the fruit bodies taper noticeably towards the base. There is an identification key to genera at https://canberra.naturemapr.org/Community/Categories/Guide/1736.