It is one of the most ecologically significant and beautiful forests in New Zealand and is home to a large population of kokako. Pureora has a dense interior with a huge variety of trees, shrubs, epiphytes and vines forming an almost impenetrable mass. Emergent podocarps include rimu, miro and matai, some of which may be over 1000 years old. Supplejack leaves are eaten by kokako, and the plant forms impenetrable thickets used by the birds for nesting. It can grow up to 5 cm a day in summer.
Supplejack produces bright red berries once it emerges from the shade of the forest canopy.
This mushroom, notable for its bright blue colour that fades with age, grows throughout New Zealand in decomposing plant remains. Nobel Prize medal and diagram The Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which Rutherford received in 1908, is represented on the note. Overlaying the medallion is a graph plotting the results from Rutherford's investigations into naturally occurring radioactivity. The yellowhead, sometimes known as the bush canary, is a diminutive and colourful bird. It is found in tracts of native bush throughout the South Island, preferring the canopies and sub-canopies of beech forests.