This shrub is largely restricted to rocky summits in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont regions (PL, W), and it may not be native to Ky. The only known wild-looking plants are in small patches at forest edges along roads or trails, all in or near parks. There are colls. from BELL (KY, EKY, MUR, TENN, RC) on Pine Mt. in or near the state park, and on Cumberland Mt. near the Hensley Settlement. There has also been some local transplanting for display in or near these parks, according to E. Carr (pers. comm.). Carr (now deceased) made colls. in BELL during 1965 (KY) and stated: "Page and Calmar area E of 25E at least one location occurring in a considerable patch. Mr. Miracle--a school teacher in the area who worked on the front desk at the lodge secured this specimen and has tranplanted several bushes in his yard... [also at] Micha Mocha Trail between Hensley Settlement and Martin's Fork." The status of all these plants in BELL remains to be assessed in detail. The WHIT (EKY, APSC) plants have appeared native to some botanists, but they are in one small area along Ky. State Rt. 92 close to the entrance to Cumberland Falls State Park. M. Brock (pers. comm.) has indicated that the WHIT plants may match the cultivar known as PJM [Peter J. Mezitt]. That cultivar is said to have been introduced in 1945 by Weston Nursery, Mass. (westonwholesale.com/our-history), having been developed from a hybrid of R. carolinianum Rehd. (a segregate of minus with small early flowers) and the East Asian R. dauricum L. (Henning 2022). See also notes under Leiophyllum buxifolium, which may have been planted nearby at Cumberland Falls State Park as well.