A rare and specially protected fungus, the wrinkled peach, found near the Salaca

While drawing up the nature conservation plan for the Natura 2000 site “Salacas ieleja” (Salaca Valley) Nature Park, nature expert Ilze Ķuze found a rare and specially protected fungus species – the wrinkled peach (Rhodotus palmatus) – in the forests near Mērnieki on the Salaca.

The wrinkled peach is an unusual fungus with a pale pink to apricot-pink, slimy and wrinkled cap. It is a wood saprotroph – a fungus that obtains its nutrients from dead wood. In Latvia, it is found mainly on dead elm and European white elm wood. Fruit bodies form from late summer to late autumn.

In Latvia, the wrinkled peach is an endangered and specially protected species, and micro-reserves can be set up to preserve its habitats. The largest known subpopulation of the species is in Gauja National Park. It is estimated that the number of mature individuals in Latvia may not exceed 250. That is why the site near the Salaca is particularly important – it lies considerably further north than the previously known range of the species in Latvia, close to the Estonian border. This find adds to our knowledge of the distribution of the wrinkled peach and shows that careful nature research can reveal previously unknown natural values.

The survival of the wrinkled peach is closely linked to dead elm and white elm wood. One of the most significant threats to the species is the removal of such wood from forests, so to protect the species it is essential to preserve dead wood and suitable habitats.

You can read more about the wrinkled peach in the Latvian Red Data Book (in Latvian): https://sarkanagramata.lu.lv/suga/vedekla-sartaine/

Photo: Ilze Ķuze