Collected during a Central New York Mycological Society foray, with Paula DeSanto (LongTooth) and students of the SUNY-ESF Mycology class.

Fruiting from soil in a gravel road. Collection made, will update with micro.

Spores smooth, colorless, +/- ellipsoid, and measured 7.5-11 x 3.5-5 microns at 1000x with analog reticle. Stature, habitat, and spore size seem to be a pretty good match for Hemimycena ignobilis.

A set of around 10 shallow digs 3-5 cm deep tipped me off. Raking back the layer of Redwood needles another 2-5 cm (total depth probably something like 4-8 cm) turned up a single fruitbody situated amongst a lot of branched white rhizomorphs (see photos). Soil and humus had a strong vegetal odor – not great but not particularly unpleasant.
Peridium blushed rosy and royal purple!
Cross-sectioned fruitbody shows many olive-colored locules (likely paler because the fruitbody is small and immature).

Apparently has not been recorded in Santa Cruz County since the 80s, and only found a few times anywhere in recent decades.

Actual collection date unknown. Collected during a British Mycological Society expedition to Ecuador. More information about the expedition may be found here.

Source: Ellison, C.A. & Evans, H.C. 1996. Amazon-ingly useful fungi – a biological control cornucopia?. Mycologist 10(1): 11-13 (pdf)