What is yellow, smells of pineapples and grows exclusively on ancient apple trees? An incredibly rare mushroom called ‘Orchard Toouthcrust’.

In 50 years there have been just 32 recorded sightings of the Orchard Toothcrust (Sarcodontia crocea) fungus in the UK.

The most recent discovery was made by The Orchard Project in a 100- year-old orchard in Lambert’s Orchard in Horton Country Park, Epsom.

Orchard restoration project manager, Stephanie Irvine said: “We are thrilled to have found this rare fungus in two community orchards we are restoring. It goes to show how precious old orchards are for biodiversity, and how important it is to conserve them.”

Orchard Toothcrust is particularly rare because it only lives on very old apple trees and is under threat due to the massive decline in historic orchards.

The National Trust estimates that 60 per cent of England’s traditional orchards have disappeared since the 1950s, and London has lost 98% of its orchards in the last 100 years.

The fungus is one of the species targeted by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew’s ‘Lost and Found Fungi project’, which is encouraging people to look for and record endangered species of fungi.