Autumn is fungi and berry time - and it was the berries that made me spot a new weed, a tall, fruiting
Cotoneaster a metre away from the boundary track that I've walked most days for the last 18 months! It was a good excuse to spend the rest of the afternoon zig-zagging my way through the half hectare of bush and taking in the wonders that temperate rainforest offers.
Cotoneaster is a native of Asia but it is fast becoming a problem-weed here now that the birds have a taste for the berries. When I was on the weeds team, we found dense thickets near houses and enough
Cotoneaster seedlings in native bush to suggest that it likes Stewart Island as much as I do. I only found the one plant on my section and will keep an eagle eye out for it from now on. I also pulled out more Darwin's barberry - I swear it grows 10 new seedlings for every one I remove.
I found treasure during my search - Autumn means fungi time!!
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| What a cutie |
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| Brown fungi amongst the liverwort |
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| Impossibly long stems |
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A family of ?Mycena interrupta - blue-eyed helmets with their
distinctive basal cup base??? |
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| Side view |
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Weraroa virescens - spindle pouch
There are heaps of these through the bush |
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| How about a green one for a change? |
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| Another greenie close by |
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| A family of puffballs |
