A flower which has existed for more than 25 million years and could be Spain’s rarest species of flora has been spotted in Andalucía, more than 40 years after it was last catalogued in that region.
Named Gyrocaryum oppositifolium Valdés, it was thought to have become extinct there in 1982.
According to Royal Bonatical Gardens, Kew, the native range of Gyrocaryum oppositifolium Valdés is south-west Spain.
The only two populations located since the turn of the century had been in Ponferrada in León province and a rural part of Madrid region.
Rosario Velasco, from the regional environment department in Andalucía, has been searching for the flower for the last 24 years.
And finally, this spring, after a period of very wet weather, she found a small enclave of this delicate species of flora, close to the area where it was last seen, in the Sierra Morena in Sevilla province.
“It is one of the most endangered plants of the Iberian Peninsula, if not the most endangered,” she told public broadcaster, RTVE.
Sra Velasco said it was possible the flower had lain dormant for many years or the small populations had been eaten by livestock.
She explained that its name in Spanish, ‘Nomevés’ (‘you don’t see me’), relates to its small size and the fact it only flowers for a short time.
A press release from Andalucía’s environment department notes that more than 100 examples have been located in the Sierra Morena, ‘possibly linked to the abundance of rain registered so far this year’.
The sighting ‘gives hope that it will remain in the ecosystem’.
In order to preserve this ancient flower, the regional environment department is trying to obtain seeds so they can be stored in the regional seed bank ‘for future actions’.
Regional councillor for the environment, Catalina García said: “This finding is a reason for celebration, but it is also a reminder of the fragility of many elements of our natural heritage and the necessity to continue to protect them.”
The pressures the delicate flower faces include its ‘poor capacity to reproduce’ and the proliferation of more competitive vegetation which benefits from human presence.
Sra García has promised effective protection for the flower ‘because we have the collective responsibility not to lose such a valuable part of our botanical heritage’.
Photos: Junta de Andalucía
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