DSC_6166 Snowy porebracket (Gloeoporus phlebophorus) soft and rubbery when fresh, becomes leathery upon drying. Grows on dead and fallen beech branches, often high above the ground in beech forest, but can also be in broadleaf/conifer forests. Associated with 'white rot'. Waikaia Forest *
DCS_6229 Beech chalkcap (Russula tawai) Russula caps are often depressed at maturity and the white gills - which discolour with age - are attached to the stem. Russula caps and stems characteristically snap like chalk, hence the name chalkcap. Found on forest floor beneath red and silver beech. Waikaia Forest *
DSC_5719 Carmine chalk cap (Russula kermesina) a partially 'encapsulated' fungi, which never opens fully. Having lost the ability to forceful eject the spores, these fungi instead rely on insects and birds to eat them and disperse the spores. Russulas have brittle stems which snap like a piece of chalk when bent. Waikaia Bush. *
