Fungi all puffed up in Wanaka

Wanaka's long spell of warm weather followed by rain and falling temperatures has produced a bumper crop of early autumnal wild mushrooms in bumper sizes on fields, council parks and reserves.

This year locals say giant puffball mushrooms growing in a paddock on the western side of Wanaka are bigger than anyone can remember.

Queenstown Lakes District Council communications adviser Jimmy Sygrove said the parks and reserves team ''have definitely noticed quite a few mushrooms around recently ... but we certainly haven't done anything different from the reserves that would account for such a bountiful mushroom season.''

Puffball mushrooms have no distinct cap and stem and are just large, white globes.

Mr Sygrove said the QLDC had advised people to make sure they knew what they were doing before picking mushrooms, ''as you can get very ill if you eat the wrong ones''.