Large cup fungi often are members of the genus Peziza. These decomposers can be found in forests on wood and other substrates, on manure and compost, and on burned areas. They sometimes grow in flower and planting beds among wood chips and other woody materials. Once mature the cups release large numbers of spores, these can be seen as a "spore cloud", if one blows gently across the surface of the cup, which after a few seconds causes the release of thousands of spores from long, narrow spore sacs.
Peziza varia is part of the Burke Museum's Featured Fungi 2009 series.
Photo by Joe Ammirati