Entoloma hochstetteri
(Reich.) Stevenson
Description:
This is the iconic blue fungi of New Zealand the species can very from bright blue to a the dull blue to almost gray in colour.

Pileus: 15-50 mm diam., conical to sharply umbonate, with the margin remaining inrolled even in old specimens. Colour light blue, later turning greenish‑blue, and finally ochraceous near the apex. Hygrophanous; dry; appressed‑fibrillose.
Lamellae: adnexed to subfree, bluish when young, becoming bluish‑reddish brown to pink‑brown. Moderately crowded. Edges concolorous, even to irregularly scalloped.
Stipe: 50-100(-150) x 3-5 mm, cylindrical, equal or attenuated upward, concolorous with pileus, fading to brownish, whitish at base. Dry, fistulose, fragile, fibrillose, often twisted.
Context: bluish to bluish‑greenish, especially at the stipe base.
Odour/taste: indistinct.

Common name: None
Habitat: Nothofagus and Lowland podocarp-broadleaf forest
Substrate: Saprobic on soilSoil
Distribution: New Zealand
Season: Autumn to early winter
Biostatus: Endemic to New Zealand
Edible: No
Spore print: Pink
Macro images:
Entoloma hochstetteri
Scale bar
Scale= 8.5 mm.
 
Entoloma hochstetteri
Scale bar
Scale= 10 mm.
Interesting was the size of this one with the cap been nearly 60 mm in diameter.
Entoloma hochstetteri
Scale bar
Scale= 13 mm.
Again the light blue variation that is most often seen in the Auckland region
Entoloma hochstetteri
Scale bar
Scale= 10 mm.
Note the tree fern, this dark blue version is not that common in the Auckland region.
Entoloma hochstetteri
Scale bar
Scale= 10 mm.
In the two places I've seen this dark blue entoloma, it's among tree ferns. I am left wondering if there is a relationship between colour and habitat.
 
The Hidden Forest
Forest Fungi