The species is known only from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, where it grows in Douglas fir forests that are up to about 50 years old; the authors suggest that it is obligately symbiotic with this tree. Usually appearing from October through March, fruit bodies grow in the top of soil, beneath soil litter, at elevations ranging from roughly sea level to about . It occurs on the west side of Oregon's Cascade Range, as well as in the Coastal Ranges of Oregon and northern California.