The Šumava mushroom family is one species richer. A blue-violet meadow coral that is threatened with extinction in the Free State has been discovered for the first time in the region, as announced by the Bavarian Forest National Park Administration. In addition to the new site in Neuschönau near the national park, there are only six other occurrences in all of Bavaria. The rare mushroom, which is reminiscent of a coral, has become rare all over Europe, according to the national park mycologist Peter Karasch. But it has also been found in Asia, India, Australia, New Zealand and North and South America. For the mushroom expert Karasch, this is an indication that it could be a living fossil from the supercontinent Pangea. He assumes that the mushroom has always grown in the Bohemian Forest – and has just not been discovered until now. Elsewhere in the world the meadow coral also occurs in completely different biotopes than here, for example in the laurel forests on the Canary Islands. The family who found the five-centimeter meadow coral look after their species-rich flower meadows and thus make a contribution to biodiversity, said Karasch. This was the only way for the fungus to thrive. This is because it is very sensitive to high nutrient inputs, for example from fertilizers. Like orchids, the mushroom is considered a pointer to valuable, species-rich biotopes. Intensive cultivation has made them rare.