This monotypic genus is typical of rocky woods and thickets on base-rich soils in east-central states. It is rare to absent from most Appalachian regions and virtually absent from Atlantic states (K). Dasistoma is often concentrated along relatively stable edges and bluffs in association with the diverse tree species that form haustorial host; it may be especially successful on Acer, Aesculus and Ulmus (Piehl 1962, Suo et al. 2017). It is sometimes confused with Aureolaria, but differs as follows (Y, W): corollas 14-16 mm long (versus 30-60 mm), the tube with dense hairs on inner surface, partially blocking the throat (versus sparse to dense short hairs. not blocking); anthers glabrous (versus pubescent); capsules 6-11 mm long (versus 9-23 mm); leaves mostly 10-40 cm long, the lower ones pinnately to binnately lobed or divided (versus 2-18 cm, unlobed, lobed or all pinnately to bipinnately lobed); stems pubescent with fine curved nonglandular hairs (versus glabrous, sparsely or densely pubescence). Dasistoma also has unique but variable pollen, with up to 6 pores (Tsymbalyuk et al. 2022).