This southern shrub used to occur mostly on the Coastal Plain until the 1990s, when it began to spread rapidly north across s. Tenn. and elsewhere in eastern states. Adventive plants often occur along major highway, especially where salted during the winter; global warming has also been implicated in the spread. The first record from Ky. was provided by D. Estes (pers. comm.) in MARS during 2008.