by Sapphire McMullan-Fisher

This critically endangered Tea-tree Fingers fungus (TTF, Hypocreopsis amplectens). was spotted for the first time at Baw Baw National Park. As the crow flies this is only about 100 km from the Yarra Valley site. With all the fabulous vegetation between the Yarra Valley and Mt Baw Baw, which includes low forests through lush valley forests and rainforest and up into alpine plateaus, offering potentially suitable habitat throughout. We hope there are many more surviving populations yet to be discovered.

As Tea-tree Fingers fans would know, Zoos Victoria partnered with Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria to help save the critically endangered Tea-tree Fingers— and to find more populations in the wild. A star player in this project was Daisy, a wildlife detection dog who works with her handler, Nick. Daisy is trained to sniff out this rare fungus so new populations can be found, monitored and protected.

Luckily, the whole human Conservation Detection Dogs team also learnt to recognise our cute but cryptic Tea-tree Fingers in the field. In November 2025, a new site was confirmed at Baw Baw National Park, in Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) rainforest. These are important remnants of ancient Gondwanan rainforests, located on the lands of the Gunaikurnai and the Wurundjeri peoples.

Antarctic Beech Forests are similar habitat to the sites in:
• NSW New England National Park found in ecotonal vegetation near Antarctic beech (Nothofagus moorei) rainforest, on the lands of the Dunghutti, Anaiwan, and Gumbaynggirr peoples.
• New Zealand Mountain Beech forests (Fuscospora cliffortioides, that was previously known as Nothofagus cliffortioides, Māori: tawhai rauriki) of the South Island (Te Waipounamu).

So please keep your eyes out for TTF and let us know if you see it – contact Sapphire fungimapconservation@gmail.com

Image courtesy of N Rutter