DSC_4815 Scarlet berry truffle (Paurocotylis pila) tuber-like, often creased and wrinkled, orange-red to red. Brightly coloured and indistinguishable from podocarp, and other red fruits (such as these Nertera depressa fruits), appearing about the same time as the truffles form. This fungus has possibly evolved to be bird distributed. Catlins Forest *
DSC_6815 Scarlet berry truffle (Paurocotylis pila) left, and Native scarlet pouch (Leratiomyces erythrocephalus) right. These two small, round, brightly coloured fungi can be found in litter in broadleaf-conifer forests in autumn. Where either litters the ground, they can be difficult to tell apart from the fallen fruit of miro, and supplejack, and indeed it seems likely that these small red fungi are mistaken for fruit, and so are dispersed by forest birds. Otago Peninsula *
DSC_6830 Scarlet berry truffle (Paurocotylis pila) left, and Native scarlet pouch (Leratiomyces erythrocephalus) right. These two small, round, brightly coloured fungi can be found in litter in broadleaf-conifer forests in autumn. Where either litters the ground, they can be difficult to tell apart from the fallen fruit of miro, and supplejack, and indeed it seems likely that these small red fungi are mistaken for fruit, and so are dispersed by forest birds. Otago Peninsula *
