"Together with other hikers, we found an unusual tree fungus on a pine tree at around two meters above the ground. I had not seen such a mushroom before so I took several photos. Together with Pēteris Dambergs, we searched for similar mushroom pictures online to identify the species. I did not find a Latvian name for it so there were suspicions this had never been discovered in Latvia," said Rekmanis.
Mycologists Ivars Leimanis and Diāna Meiere later confirmed the discovery.
The mushroom is mostly found in Scandinavian countries – Sweden and Norway. There have been mentions of it in Canada, Scotland, USA, Russia, Finland, Czech Republic, France, Denmark, Switzerland, and Poland. The number of findings is relatively small.
The fungus usually grows on dead pine trees but sometimes it also chooses a live tree. It can grow high up from the ground – from two to 14 meters high.
DAP said that there are three reports of sightings in Estonia, but none in Lithuania.
