New Delhi, April 5 -- Srinagar: Spring in Kashmir once brought the scent of pine sap and damp earth, the hush of melting snow, and the quiet rustle of footsteps combing the forest floor for a delicacy that blooms like a secret.

spongy, ridged, and among the world's most expensive fungi-has long drawn foragers into the Himalayan woods, where it grows wild under deodar and pine. But this year, the trails are blanketed in ash. The snow melted early. The forests are burning. And the prized morel is vanishing with them.

Read this | Kashmir tourism is on thin ice amid a second straight snowless winter

Known for its earthy flavour, medicinal properties, and market value of up to Rs.30,000 per kg, the elusive Morchella esculenta thrives in the...