| Dissoderma paradoxum | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Squamanitaceae |
| Genus: | Dissoderma |
| Species: | D. paradoxum |
| Binomial name | |
| Dissoderma paradoxum | |
| Synonyms | |
Cystoderma paradoxumA.H.Sm. & Singer (1948) [2] | |
Dissoderma paradoxum, which has the recommended English name of powdercap strangler in the UK, [4] is a species of fungus in the family Squamanitaceae. It is a parasitic fungus that grows on the fruit bodies of another fungus, Cystoderma amianthinum . [5] It takes over the host and replaces the cap and gills with its own but retains the original stipe, creating in effect a hybrid between the two. [6] The species was first described as Cystoderma paradoxum by American mycologists Alexander H. Smith and Rolf Singer in 1948, based on specimens collected in Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. [2] Cornelis Bas transferred the species to the genus Squamanita in 1965. [3] Recent molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has however shown that the species does not belong in Squamanita sensu stricto but in the related genus Dissoderma. [5] The species occurs in both North America and Europe. [5]