vs Corsican Hare

Clitocybe diatreta compared with Lepus corsicanus

Key Differences

• is Least Concern while Corsican Hare is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank		Corsican Hare
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Lagomorpha (Rabbits & Hares)
Family	Tricholomataceae	Leporidae (Rabbits & Hares)
Genus	Clitocybe	Lepus
Species	Clitocybe diatreta	Lepus corsicanus

Conservation Status

LC — Least Concern

Corsican Hare

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute		Corsican Hare
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Habitat

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

Range

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

Corsican Hare

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Found in France. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

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.