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Paragyrodon sphaerosporus (Peck) Singer

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Scientific name
Paragyrodon sphaerosporus
Author
(Peck) Singer
Common names
 
IUCN Specialist Group
Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Boletales
Family
Paxillaceae
Assessment status
Published
Assessment date
2023-03-17
IUCN Red List Category
LC
Assessors
Susana C. Gonçalves; Susana Cunha (RBG Kew and University of Coimbrta, Portugal)
Reviewers
Gregory Mueller (Chicago Botanic Garden / IUCN SSC Mushroom, Bracket and Puffball Specialist Group)

Assessment Notes

The content on this page is fetched from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/266001484/266019667

Justification

Paragyrodon sphaerosporus is a species known from North America, mostly in the Great Lakes region. Its population size is estimated to be at least 64,000 mature individuals, it is found in association with different presumed host species (Quercus spp.) and there is no evidence of population decline, so the species is assessed as Least Concern (LC).

Taxonomic notes

This species was placed in the monotypic genus Paragyrodon based on morphological characteristics (Singer 1942) and this has since been confirmed in phylogenetic studies (Nuhn et al. 2013).

Geographic range

This species is known from North America and most common in the Great Lakes region. It has also been recorded further west, though more rarely, in Iowa, Kansas, Colorado and Montana in the United States of America and the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada (GBIF.org 2023).

Population and Trends

Paragyrodon sphaerosporus is known from at least 64 sites in North America. It is a conspicuous species with a large distribution but appears to be uncommon outside of the Great Lakes region, so the total number of sites is estimated to be at least 6,400, including unknown sites. Following guidelines by Dahlberg and Mueller (2011) and assuming 10 mature individuals exist per site, the population size is estimated to be at least 64,000 mature individuals. There is no evidence of a population decline.

Population Trend: Unknown

Habitat and Ecology

Paragyrodon sphaerosporus is a terrestrial, solitary to gregarious species, found under hardwood trees, mostly Quercus spp., and presumably ectomycorrhizal. It is common in areas where original forest has been cut down and only shade trees remain (Smith and Thiers 1971, Watling 2008).

Threats

No significant threats have been identified for this species.

Conservation Actions

No specific conservation measures are needed.

Source and Citation

Cunha, S.P. & Gonçalves, S.C. 2025. Paragyrodon sphaerosporus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T266001484A266019667. Accessed on 22 November 2025.

Country occurrence