This is widely scattered on the southeastern and Atlantic coastal plains, from La. to Mass., and there also a few records inland as far as Tenn. and Ky. (K). However, it is threatened, endangered or locally extinct in all states; in at least half of its historic range, there are no known plants (NS; and USFWS websites). In Ky. Schwalbea is known only from two colls. of B in MCRE during the 1930s: at "sandstone flat, Natural Bridge" and "sandstone knob, Alum Creek Road." The plant has also disappeared inTenn., with only two colls. from the 19th century (Ch; D. Estes, pers. comm.) The genus is usually considered monotypic; but reportedly 2n = 32 and 36. Pennell (1935) treated plants from Ky. as the segregate he named S. australis, but that taxon has generally not been distinguished by subsequent authors. Schwalbea is a globally endangered hemiparasite that is highly dependant on fire or other disturbance (e.g. Townsend 1997, Norden & Kirkman 2004a). It occurs in open grassy woodland, especially on seasonally damp, acid, sandy soils with pines and oaks. It occurs on a wide range of hosts, but Helton et al. (2000) found a concentration on Pityopsis graminifolia and Ilex glabra (rather than Dichanthelium tenue). Norden & Kirkman (2004b) found that plants exposed by clearing competition were much more likely to be eaten by caterpillars of the buckeye butterfly.