Ben Pawlowski
A RARE plant species thought to be extinct for over four decades has been rediscovered in Andalucia.
The discovery was made at Sierra Morena natural park in the province of Sevilla by Rosario Velasco, a botanist with the Andalucian Network of Botanical and Mycological Gardens in Natural Spaces.
Gyrocaryum oppositifolium, popularly known as ‘nomevés’ (‘you can’t see me’), had not been sighted since 1982 and was described by the Junta as one of the ‘scarcest and most endangered plant species of Iberian flora’.
The sighting of over 100 nomevés plants raises hopes that the species will be able to flourish, with experts suggesting that its recent reappearance could be linked to this year’s heavy rainfall.
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Catalina Garcia, regional minister for the environment, described the discovery as ‘a cause for joy, but also a reminder of the fragility of many elements of our natural heritage and the need to continue to protect them’.
“We have shown that the commitment to biodiversity is much more than a declaration, it is a firm public policy that bears fruit,” she added.
“We are beginning a new chapter in the conservation of the nomevés, and we are going to develop actions appropriate to its delicate life cycle and the peculiarities of its habitat.”
In response to the findings, botanists across Andalucia have begun to search for the species in similar habitats with the hope of identifying new areas of growth.
Only two other sites have been identified as hosting nomevés plants: Ponferrada, Leon in the 1990s, and Cadalso de los Vidrios near Madrid in the early 2000s.
