Giant mushrooms surprise Paengaroa resident on orchard walk

A Bay of Plenty woman has made a massive mushroom find while on a walk.

Julie Gallagher stumbled upon two mushrooms measuring 30cm-plus across the cap on a neighbour’s kiwifruit block at Paengaroa.

The retiree, who lives on a 1 acre (0.4ha) property along SH33, said she regularly walked on a neighbouring kiwifruit orchard.

“I’d only seen small ones previously,” said Gallagher, who has lived on the small block for 23 years.

The super-sized specimens were found recently next to a shelter belt in the kiwifruit orchard.

“There was just the two of them. I couldn’t just leave them. They were too out of this world.”

Gallagher said she had seen horse mushrooms in the South Island, but not in the Bay of Plenty.

“The only ones I have seen here have been normal ones on the Eastern Districts’ rugby field.”

SunLive sent photographs of Julie’s find to Landcare Research.

Julie Gallagher with her massive mushrooms.

The agency said they could either be arvenisi (horse mushroom) or crocodilinus (crocodile mushrooms).

Both are introduced species, with the crocodile type more common.

Landcare Research said examining the specimens in the photographs under a microscope would be the only way of accurately identifying them.

Both can grow to a significant size, with the photographs showing “over-mature specimens”.

Landcare Research said both varieties of mushroom were “in theory” edible.

“But we never like to suggest anything is edible without seeing them.”

Gallagher planned to dispose of the giant pair she found.

The horse mushroom has a toxic cousin, known as a yellow stainer, for which it can be mistaken.

With a strong flavour when cooked, the horse mushroom has an aniseed smell in the wild.

The crocodile mushroom is so named because of its distinctive scales.

They have a very distinct, earthy aroma, which transfers into their flavour.