The type was collected by Orton in fields near Membury, Devon, in 1957[3] Meinhard Moser transferred the species to the genus Hygrocybe in 1967.

It was formerly confused with the Crimson Waxcap Hygrocybe punicea, but fruitbodies of the latter species are a darker, duller red, have slightly viscid caps, and fibrillose stems.

Fruit bodies of the Scarlet Waxcap Hygrocybe coccinea are typically much smaller and have slightly viscid caps that are nodulose under a lens.

[6] The Splendid Waxcap is widespread but generally rare throughout Europe, with the largest populations in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.

[1] Hygrocybe splendidissima also appears on the official or provisional national red lists of threatened fungi in several European countries, including Croatia,[8] Denmark,[9] Germany,[10] Norway,[8] and Sweden.