The species was first described in 1821 by noted Scandinavian mycologist Elias Magnus Fries as Agaricus chlorophanus, based on specimens collected locally in Sweden.

The cap surface is smooth, distinctly viscid when damp, bright lemon-yellow to orange-yellow (rarely orange to red).

Hygrocybe ceracea is also similarly coloured, but has a waxy (not viscid) cap and stipe and broadly attached, almost decurrent gills.

[5] In Europe, Hygrocybe chlorophana is typical of waxcap grasslands, a declining habitat due to changing agricultural practices.

Though considered to be one of the commoner species in the genus,[4] the golden waxcap nonetheless appears on the official or provisional national red lists of threatened fungi in several European countries, including Germany (Bavaria),[7] Poland,[8] and Switzerland.