Blue Entoloma ~ Just like on Elder Scrolls

            

Entoloma hochstetteri

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Subclass: Hymenomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Entolomataceae
Genus: Entoloma
Species: E. hochstetteri
Binomial name
Entoloma hochstetteri
(Reich.) Stev.
Entoloma hochstetteri
View the Mycomorphbox template that generates the following list
Mycological characteristics
gills on hymenium
cap is convex
hymenium is adnate
stipe is bare
spore print is pink
edibility: unknown

Entoloma hochstetteri is a species of mushroom found in New Zealand and India. The small mushroom is a distinctive all-blue colour, while the gills have a slight reddish tint from the spores. The blue coloring of the fruit body is due to three azulene pigments. Whether Entoloma hochstetteri is poisonous or not is unknown.

This species was one of six native fungi featured in a set of fungal stamps issued in New Zealand in 2002
Entoloma hochstetteri is one of the most distinctive mushrooms in the world, is featured on the NZ $50 note, was one of six native fungi featured in a set of fungal stamps issued in New Zealand in 2002, and is part of Māori folklore.
The Māori name for the blue mushroom is werewere-kokako because the colour is similar to the blue wattle of the kōkako bird.

It is also one of several fungi that players can gather in the video game Elder Scrolls Online

The species was first described as Hygrophorus hochstetteri in 1866 by the Austrian mycologist Erwin Reichardt, before being given its current binomial name in 1962 by Greta Stevenson. It is named after the German naturalist Ferdinand von Hochstetter.
Description

Entoloma hochstetteri has a small delicate epigeous (above-ground) fruiting body (basidiocarp) which may be found among moss or leaf litter. The cap may be up to 4 cm (1.4 in) in diameter and conical in shape. The cap color is indigo-blue with a green tint, and is fibrillose. The cap margin is striate and rolled inwards. The gill attachment is adnexed or emarginate, gills are thin and 3–5 mm wide, essentially the same color as the cap, sometimes with a yellow tint. The cylindrical stipe is up to 5 cm (2 in) long by 0.5 cm thick, fibrillose and stuffed. The spore print is reddish-pink. The spores are 9.9–13.2 by 11.8–13.2 μm, tetrahedric in shape, hyaline, smooth and thin-walled. The basidia are 35.2–44.2 by 8.8–13.2 µm, club-shaped, hyaline, and with two or four sterigmata.

Entoloma hochstetteri grows in woodlands of western parts of both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, where it is associated with Nothofagus and Podocarpus species. It has also been found in India.

Although many members of the genus Entoloma are poisonous, the toxicity of this species is unknown. It has been investigated to see if its blue colouring might be manufactured as a food dye.
 
(from Wikipedia)

I can add, from my own experience, that the mushroom is virtually tasteless, and appears to have no toxic or hallucinogenic properties, having ingested a few myself, by way of experiment.

   

Taken in: New Zealand / West Coast / Rapahoe (show map)

Taken on: April 14, 2018

Tags:

New Zealand Wild

Nature

Wild

Wild New Zealand

Mushroom

Mushrooms

mycology

Entoloma

Entoloma hochstetteri

blue

beautiful

beauty

Fungi

West Coast

Wilderness

Steve Reekie

photography

New Zealand photography

New Zealand Nature Photography

Sky Blue Mushroom « less

Sets appears in: • Wild New Zealand • Fungi, Slime Molds & Lichens of New Zealand more » • Entoloma hochstetteri • Macro • Wild West Coast • Aotearoa ~ Fragile Beauty • New Zealand Nature • Wonderland Aotearoa « less

Groups appears in: • Mushrooms • fungi more » • New Zealand • New Zealand photography • Jungles and Forests of the World • Awesome Nature • ForestWander Nature Photography Excellence • )̲̅ζ MUSHROOM PARADISE ¡¡¡ • Shots with a Lumix - photos and videos - no 30/60. • Natural History of New Zealand • A Walk in the Woods • Mushroom Anatomy 101 • Fantastic Fungi ! • New Zealand Wild • Mushrooms, fungus, moss, mold, and growths! • Fungi of New Zealand • Mushrooms & other fungi (Your Fab Fungi Fotos, FFF) • Blue is Cool and Serene *NATURE ONLY!!* • New Zealand Geographic • Nature Nerds • New Zealand on Flickr • A Fondness for Fungi • Nature's Patterns • Mushrooms: Entoloma and allies • Forests - All types, from landscape to macro • Fungi From Around The World • DOC Aotearoa « less

Camera: Panasonic DMC-FZ300, f/8.0, 0.3 sec, 10.1mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-FZ300
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.3
Focal Length:	10.1mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Fine Weather
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Ver.2.0
Show full info

Stats: 8,617 views / 1 comment

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: