Meet NZ’s famous blue mushroom: werewere-kōkako 💙
It’s tiny. It’s electric-blue. And it looks so unreal you’d swear someone dropped it in the forest.
Meet werewere-kōkako (Entoloma hochstetteri) – New Zealand’s iconic blue mushroom, a unique native forest find that’s become famous enough to land on the NZ $50 note. And it’s the only banknote in the world to feature fungi.
Why it’s such a big deal
Werewere-kōkako isn’t something you stumble across every day. It’s small, often appears in ones and twos, and only pops up when the forest conditions are just right. Spotting it feels like finding a little secret forest treasure.
The name behind the legend
Its Māori name links to the kōkako bird, referencing the bird’s striking blue wattles. In a maori legend, the kōkako got its distinctive blue wattles after rubbing its cheek against the mushroom. That connection is why the mushroom is called werewere-kōkako – “the blue wattle of the kōkako”.
Why it’s that vivid blue
That intense colour is linked to azulene pigments – the chemistry behind its signature blue tone.
When can you see it? Welcome to “mushroom season”
In New Zealand, the best chance of spotting werewere-kōkako is typically during autumn mushroom season, when the forest turns cool, damp, and full of life.
You’ll also see its fruiting period described more broadly as January to July, but for most people, the real magic happens as the cooler, wetter months settle in.
Mushrooms don’t appear because of the month – they appear because of conditions:
- moisture in the soil and leaf litter
- humidity held under the canopy
- mild temperatures (not too hot and dry)
When those line up, the fungus sends up what we call a mushroom – the fruiting body – so it can release spores and spread.
Werewere-kōkako (Entoloma hochstetteri) – New Zealand’s iconic blue mushroom – can be found here at Rotorua Canopy Tours because Ōkoheriki (Rotorua Canopy Tours’ native forest, aka Dansey Road Scenic Reserve) is a rare, sheltered podocarp–broadleaf forest with ancient rimu giants, dense canopy cover, and a forest floor layered in moss, ferns, and leaf litter. That canopy composition creates a steady, cool, humid microclimate that fungi love – the kind of conditions the blue mushroom needs to thrive.
Guests can spot it on both adventures: the Original Canopy Tour often delivers that “wait… is that real?” moment along the forest track between ziplines, while the Ultimate Canopy Tour adds a perfect contrast – a tiny blue treasure on the forest floor before you climb up into the canopy and launch into the tours biggest features.