Entoloma hochstetteri mushroom at Lake Mahinapua, New Zealand Jan 18, 2018

Entoloma hochstetteri mushroom at Lake Mahinapua, New Zealand

Leave it to weird, wild, wonderful New Zealand to be home to a blue mushroom. Fungus enthusiasts can also find Entoloma hochstetteri in parts of India and Brazil, but it’s bountiful enough on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, that it is part of the artwork on the latest iteration of the $50 note. It appears alongside the kōkako, a bird whose blue wattles inspired the Māori name for this mushroom: werewere-kōkako.

© Thysje Arthur/Offset

palette

Today in History

Jan 18, 2019An opulent backdrop for a historic event
Jan 18, 2020Sands of time
Jan 18, 2021A step toward freedom
Jan 18, 2022Winnie-the-Pooh Day
Jan 18, 2023White Sands National Park turns 90
Jan 18, 2024Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France
Jan 18, 2025Dunes at White Sands National Park, New Mexico
Jan 18, 2026White Sands National Park, New Mexico

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct 26, 2023Schönbrunn Palace Park, Vienna, Austria
Dec 7, 2025Pearl Harbor Day
Aug 13, 2025Corona Arch near Moab, Utah
Aug 22, 2022Burrowing owls
Jul 18, 2021Grand finish of Le Tour
Feb 4, 2022Winter Olympics in Beijing
Aug 2, 2022Happy birthday, Capitol Reef National Park
Nov 30, 2020A water loch-ed castle
May 13, 2020Of moose and Maine
Nov 28, 2018Christmas comes to New York City
Jun 1, 2024Pride Month
Apr 24, 2021A garden of prickly delights
Apr 9, 2020Hooray, hooray, it s Unicorn Day!
Dec 21, 2022Winter solstice
Jul 2, 2024The ruins of Italica, Andalusia, Spain
Jan 20, 2024Penguin Awareness Day
Nov 2, 2024National Bison Day
Sep 2, 2025Camel thorn trees, Namib-Naukluft Park, Namibia
Mar 7, 2026The Brocken, Harz National Park, Germany
Apr 25, 2023World Penguin Day
Feb 20, 2021An enduring vision
Jul 11, 2021Why, aloe there
Jun 14, 2025Flag Day
Apr 24, 2024White trilliums blooming in Ontario, Canada
Dec 12, 2021Wicker fields in Cañamares, Spain
Sep 11, 2025Patriot Day
Feb 2, 2026Groundhog Day
Jan 8, 2026Starling murmuration over the ruins of Brightons West Pier, England
Feb 10, 2021A throng of ice and spires
Sep 7, 2021Whale hello there!