Broadly defined, this species is widespread across southeastern North America and Central America. The coll. from CARL (MUR) is referable to var. densipilis Blake (within Polymnia), but that largely western segregate has not generally been recognized in recent treatments (F, W and citations). [Note that distinction of Smallanthus from Polymnia is now widely accepted; typically, 2n = 32 versus 30 (FNA 21).]