* The author is part of the community of readers of La Vanguardia
I share in the Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia the result of a sighting of the mushroom popularly known as ''devil's fingers'', located in Ibio, municipality of Mazcuerras, Cantabria, about 500 meters away in a humid area of the Atlantic forest close to a stream.
Thanks to the help of its readers, La Vanguardia was able to prepare an autumn map of the areas of Spain where a greater presence of the mysterious and colorful mushroom Clathrus archeri or devil's fingers had been detected, located basically in the north of the country.
It is a visually very peculiar specimen, even "alien" in appearance, also known as "squid mushroom" or "red star".
It is of Australian origin, but it is proliferating in natural areas, especially in Galicia, although it has also been seen in Cantabria, Asturias, the Basque Country, Navarra and, more residually, in Catalonia.
Clathrus archeri was first discovered in Europe in 1914 in the French district of Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. It is suspected that it arrived here during the First World War through spores attached to the horses of Australian soldiers and their forage, or simply on the soldiers' boots.
The possibility is also being considered that it was introduced into the French district of Bordeaux in the yarns of Raon-l'Étape as the spores traveled through wool arriving from the southern hemisphere.
