 As a saprobic fungus , Sarcoscypha occidentalis is part of a community of fungi that play an important role in the forest ecosystem by breaking down the complex insoluble molecules cellulose and lignin of wood and leaf litter into smaller oligosaccharides that may be used by a variety of microbes . Fruit bodies of S. coccinea may grow either solitarily , scattered or grouped together on sticks , twigs , and fragments of dead wood , usually somewhat decomposed and partially buried in the top 5 cm ( 2 @.@ 0 in ) of soil and forest litter . It prefers soil that is moist and shaded and has a high content of humus . Like all Sarcoscypha species , it prefers the wood of angiosperms , such as oak , maple , and basswood ; one field guide notes a preference for shagbark hickory . In the United States , it fruits from late spring to early autumn , which contrasts it with S. coccinea , found usually in the spring . 
