One of our companions on the trip to the Picos was an extremely fit and eagle-eyed man in his 80s who earned the nickname ‘the springer spaniel’ because he was always diving off the path and pushing his way through the undergrowth to flush out something interesting. His prize find was undoubtedly this Lilium pyrrenaica that he found growing in a bramble thicket at the top of a bank behind a car park. Plants don’t need pretty surroundings, just the right conditions.