National Museum of Natural Science

The Chinese cup fungus (Cookeina sinensis) resembles the Venus flytrap and was first discovered in Yunnan Province of China by mycologist Wang Zheng (1997). Since then, it has also been recorded in Taiwan and India. The Chinese cup fungus appears in low-elevation areas of Taiwan from June to September, often growing scattered on rotting wood. There are currently 18 species in the genus Cookeina. These species are differentiated by the distribution of hairs on the surface of the ascocarp and the size of the ascospores.