A file photo of the elfin saddle mushroom. Photo: Jerzy Opioła via Wikimedia Commons

A rare type of fungus which has not been spotted in the Netherlands for almost 30 years has re-emerged in a nature reserve in Twente, according to website Nature Today.

The hooded false morel or the elfin saddle (gyromitra infula) is known as a ‘bishop’s mitre’ in Dutch and has been on the national ‘highly endangered’ list since 2008.

It has a dark reddish-brown cap which develops its distinctive saddle or mitre shape as the mushroom reaches maturity.  The fungi usually grow on rotting wood or on hard packed ground and are toxic unless cooked.

There have been just 12 reports of the fungi in the Netherlands in the last 100 years. The most recent was 29 years ago in the south of Noord-Brabant, Nature Today said.