Hericium erinaceus
Despite being on the same tree as H coralloides, Hericium erinaceus is a slightly different hanging tooth fungus in that the teeth are longer and they do not grow from branches. (According to "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora). It is also not so good to eat, but I would hope nobody in New Zealand would be such a vandal as to eat either of them.
Actually I think these teeth, although longer than those on H coralloides, do grow from branches and so I am not sure if the expert who advised me on identification, while we were in the Pureora Forest photographing these specimens, was correct. Not to worry, David Arora says the classification is confused in USA too and some people there think the two varieties are identical.
(3D photography by John Wattie)
Other 3d tooth fungi on this web site:
