Peziza is a genus of cup fungi that grows on the ground, rotting wood, or dung. It produces cup or disc-shaped fruiting bodies called apothecia that can be sessile or stalked, and range in size from 0.5-10 cm in diameter. Peziza contains over 100 species and reproduces both sexually through antheridia and ascogonia fusion or asexually by producing conidia or chlamydospores.

1. Peziza
By
Hem Chander
Assistant Professor (Botany)
Career Point University Hamirpur (HP) 176041
hemchander78@gmail.com

2. • Peziza a commonly called cup fungi,
is a genus of saprophytic fungi that
grow on the ground, rotting wood,
or dung
• A fruiting body of species
of Peziza is mostly cup or disc-
shaped called an apothecium.
shaped called an apothecium.
• The apothecia are mostly sessile but
sometimes stalked, minute to very
large (0.5-10.0 cm or more in
diameter), brightly colored (but
lacking carotenoids) to dark brown;
smooth, velvety, hairy or bristly.
• The genus contains more than 100
species

3. Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Pezizomycetes
Classification
Order: Pezizales
Family: Pezizaceae
Genus: Peziza

4. • Asexual reproduction takes place by conidia and
chlamydospores.
• The conidia are formed exogenously at the tip of
conidiophores.
Asexual Reproduction
• Conidia germinate to form the new mycelium.
• Some intercalary, thick-walled cells are formed in
the mycelium. These are chlamydospores. On
germination, they form new mycelium.

5. Sexual Reproduction
• Sexual Reproduction takes place by means of antheridium and
ascogonium.
• Sexual fusion results into a bright coloured, cup-shaped, large and
sessile apothecial type of fruiting body.

6. • Apothecium consists of
mycelium with a basal
hypothecium.
• Hymenium region consists of
many fertile asci and sterile
paraphyses.
Apothecium
• Sub-hymenium is made up of
pseudo- parenchymatous
hyphae which later on form the
peridium of the cup.
• In each ascus are present eight
uninucleate ascospores which
form the new mycelium on
germination.

7. Life Cycle of Peziza