As a native, this broadleaf evergreen tree is largely restricted to the southeastern Coastal Plain, and almost absent from the Mississippi Valley north of La. In Ky. occasional seedlings establish from nearby plantings, but it does not seem be spreading yet across the landscape. There are colls. of putative self-sown plants from MADI and MCRA (EKY; Clark et al. 2005); and seedlings do rarely establish in FAYE (pers. obs.).