Hygrocybe conica is known to be a complex of at least eleven closely related species[2] and as such is widespread in Europe, North America, Asia, and elsewhere.

The species was first described from Bavaria in 1774 by German polymath Jacob Christian Schäffer, who named it Agaricus conicus.

The cap surface is smooth and finely fibrillose, moist or viscid at first, variously yellow to orange or scarlet.

The stipe (stem) is smooth but fibrillose and streaky, yellow to orange-red, whitish towards base, lacking a ring.

[6] Hygrocybe conica is widely distributed across North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand, being found in summer and autumn.