Rare fungus 'delicacy' found near Tukituki River

The pukurau, which has the botanical name of Ileodictyon cibarium.

A rare specimen of the fungus that gives Waipukurau part of its name was recently discovered along the banks of the Tukituki River.

Despite living in Waipukurau for nearly all of his 69 years, longtime resident Peter Fleming said he had never seen an example of the white, net-like fungus — which Maori called 'pukurau' and which is considered a delicacy — before in his life.

According to historian Pat Parsons' book Waipukurau: The History of a Country Town, before eating them Maori would firstly soak the fungus — with a botanical name of Ileodictyon cibarium, commonly known as 'white basket fungus' — in a pool belonging to an ancestor, Ruakuha, which was located near the Waipukurau Pa site.

The pool existed when the Waipukurau block was purchased in 1851 but was believed to have been filled in by silt deposits in the 1867 flood.

Waipukurau is an abbreviation of Te Waipukurau a Ruakuha.

Peter said he found the fungus last week next to the mountain bike track running in the berms on the Waipukurau side of the Tukituki, about halfway between the quarry and the new swingbridge.

"I believe this is somewhere near where the Waipukurau Pa [site] was. I have never seen one before and I spent a good deal of my school years on this area of the river," he said.
Though widespread in parts of the southern hemisphere and found in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, Peter said the fungus was "certainly not common" in CHB anymore.

"The mayor [Alex Walker] tells me she has a dried specimen on her office desk but I would be very interested to know if anyone else has seen the fungus but not realised its significance."