Witches cauldron found in New Brunswick forest

A strange-looking mushroom has been found in New Brunswick for only the second time.

A witches cauldron, which does actually look a lot like a real witches' cauldron, was spotted in Glassville, north of Woodstock.

The mushroom is round, with a hole in the top, filled with a kind of colourful gel, and has only been found one other time in the province.

Alfredo Justo, a mycologist, or mushroom expert, at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, said this is an exciting find.

"It's always exciting to find a species that are not common," said Justo.

"Especially in this case, a species like this one, they have a very particular look."

Not from around here

Justo said the mushroom is usually found in northern Europe, but even there it has been included on conservation lists.

"There's been some concerns that the populations of these mushrooms have been declining for some years," said Justo.

"In general, we know so little about the distribution of the species and how common it is that any new find will allow us to learn a little bit more."

Justo said the museum was alerted to the mushroom by the New Brunswick Nature Trust, which had heard about it from the family that owns the property where it was found.

Family members said they'd seen the mushroom on the property in years past but only decided to check into it this year.

Justo went to the property and was able to gather a couple of samples for the museum's collection.

"Witches cauldron is commonly found with spruce forests and is commonly found near rivers and streams," said Justo.

"In this particular case there was no river or stream nearby, but there was a lot of spruce in the area."

Justo said he'd never seen a witches cauldron in the wild before, but there may be more of them in the province. The museum's Facebook post about the mushroom has already drawn comments about other possible locations.

While the mushroom isn't toxic, it's considered inedible.