This diploid (2n = 18) shrub of woods on acid soils has a fairly wide eastern range, but it is rare to absent in the lower Ohio and central Mississippi Valleys, including most of w. Ky. and w. Tenn. (K, Ch). Hamamelis virginiana has a similar range (K). Although moderately unpalatable to mammalian herbivores, acerifolium (like other species in Odontotinus) may be reduced by intense browsing of deer (e.g. Kribel et al. 2011) or livestock. In Ky. colls. from BREA (KY), ESTI (EKY), HARL (KY) and probably elsewhere are referable to var. glabrescens Rehd., but that Appalachian variety has not been recognized in most recent treatments (e.g. Cr, W).