Excerpts from Jim Conrad's
Naturalist Newsletter

Entry issued on November 29, 2019, from the forest just west of Tepakán; elev. ~9m (~30 ft), N21.053°, W89.052°; north-central Yucatán state, MÉXICO
PURPLE PARASOL MUSHROOM
The morning after the last rain of our rainy season -- when the ground was at its absolute peak of sogginess for the year -- the dainty little purple mushroom shown below appeared along the trail through the rancho's regenerating woods:

MARASMIUS HAEMATOCEPHALUS

My finger nudging in from the left shows how small this mushroom is, about one inch (25mm). And notice how slender and dark the stalk is, and how the purple cap is "pleated," each ridge corresponding to a spore-releasing gill beneath the cap. The gills are relatively few and far apart.

I've seen mushrooms just like this all over North America, and I read that that same species occurs here and much farther south in tropical America, so I'm guessing that this is the same species: MARASMIUS HAEMATOCEPHALUS, sometimes called the Purple Parasol and other such names.

I've seen it arising from moist, decaying leaves, and from among fallen leaves, as in the picture. It's too small and insubstantial to think about eating it, and too pretty as well.