Chicken Run Funnel vs

Clitocybe phaeophthalma compared with Clitocybe diatreta

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chicken Run Funnel
Kingdom same	Fungi (Fungi)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum same	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class same	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order same	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)
Family same	Tricholomataceae	Tricholomataceae
Genus same	Clitocybe	Clitocybe
Species	Clitocybe phaeophthalma	Clitocybe diatreta

Evolutionary Relationship

Chicken Run Funnel and share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Clitocybe.

View Genus: Clitocybe

Conservation Status

Chicken Run Funnel

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chicken Run Funnel
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chicken Run Funnel

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal.

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

Chicken Run Funnel

The Chicken Run Funnel (Clitocybe phaeophthalma) is a species in the genus Clitocybe. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Clitocybe diatreta is a saprotrophic agaric fungus belonging to the family Tricholomataceae, found across temperate European forests and woodland habitats from Scandinavia southward through Central Europe. It typically fruits in autumn among leaf litter of deciduous and mixed forests, favoring moist, humus-rich soils beneath beech, oak, and conifer stands. The cap is convex to depressed, pale greyish-buff or whitish, with the decurrent gills and funnel-shaped profile characteristic of the genus Clitocybe. Microscopic examination reveals ellipsoid spores with smooth walls, confirming identity in this difficult taxonomic group. The diatreta species complex has been subject to taxonomic revision as molecular techniques clarify boundaries between morphologically similar taxa. As a decomposer of forest litter, C. diatreta contributes to the breakdown of cellulose and lignin in temperate forest floors, releasing nutrients back into the soil ecosystem. Its presence indicates structurally diverse, undisturbed forest conditions preferred by many specialist saprotrophic fungi in European woodland communities.