A new type of mushroom unique to the Losa valley to the north of Burgos province has been identified by experts from Sestao's Natural Sciences Society.c"I've been looking at it for twenty years, convinced that it belonged to a different species" explained one of them, José Luis Pérez Butrón.
The main distinguishing feature of the new species - Flammulina cephalariae - is that, although it might at first appear to do so, it does not actually grow in the soil, but on the roots of another plant. "That is what first made me think it could be unique," Mr Butrón admitted.
After various tests, his suspicions were confirmed though he is not yet sure whether or not the new mushroom is edible.
As far as anyone knows, the Flammulina cephalariae, which gets its name from the Cephalaria leucantha on the roots of which it grows, can only be found in the rocky, south-facing, uncultivated meadows of the tranquil Losa valley during the months of November and December.