The species was first mentioned in scientific literature as Agaricus surrectus by English botanist John Leonard Knapp in his 1829 Journal of a Naturalist.

He wrote: We have even an agaric, with a bulbous root and downy pileus, that will spring from the smooth summit of another (agaricus caseus), which has a uniform footstalk, though not of common occurrence.

[3] Seven years later, Miles Berkeley described the fungus as Agaricus loveianus, not aware of Knapp's previous publication, and wrote that it was "a most elegant and curious species which ... appears not to have been hitherto noticed".

[5] In his 1917 North American Flora, William Alphonso Murrill proposed a new name combination for the species based on Berkeley's name, Volvariopsis loweiana.

[6] In 1942, John Ramsbottom discovered Knapp's image and description of the fungus, and realizing it referred to the same species as Berkeley's Agaricus loveianus, made the new combination Volvaria surrecta.

[9] Almost 90 years earlier, Paul Konrad and André Maublanc recognized the relatedness of these species, and proposed that V. surrecta should be considered a subspecies of V. hypopithys.

The cap surface is dry and covered with long, silky hairs; the color is white to light gray, with a yellowish or brownish center.

[14] Collybia species, including C. cookei, C. cirrhata and C. tuberosa are saprobic, and grow on the blackened, decayed remains of other agarics.

"[20] Volvariella surrecta is a rare species, even though its major host is quite common; the conditions required for the parasite to produce fruit bodies are not well known.

[21] V. surrecta has been found on its host in several different habitat types, including birch woodlands, pine plantations, scrub, thickets of small trees or shrubs beside roads, and under brambles.

[5] In 1867, Worthington George Smith reported that he had successfully cultivated the species by partially burying fruit bodies under water-soaked rotting fir leaves that were placed in a bell-glass in a warm room.