Powdercap Strangler - Dissoderma paradoxum

A remarkable mycoparasite that affects the Earthy Powdercap, Cystoderma amianthinum.   It grows up through the stem of its host, so the cap and upper stem are the Powdercap Strangler, while the lower stem below remains that of the host, Earthy Powdercap.  The cap is a brownish-purple colour with a paler edge; the stem is a similar colour, with fine scales.  The lower stem is the host, and is orange-brown and coarsely scaled.   There is a tattered ring on the stem at the point where the parasite emerges from its host.

Photograph from the top, and from the side to clearly show the junction where the parasite emerges from the stem of its host.

unimproved grassland

Rare

Rare

https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/squamanita-paradoxa.php

Note the recent name-change.  It is not assigned to a family on the NBN. We have included it in Tricholomataceae because it is listed here, under its former name, on the BMS checklist and other sources.