Mapping here is provisional. This species of the upper midwest occurs mostly from Ark. to Minn. and Mich., but there are disjunct records as far east as central Ala. to western N.Y. (K). In Ky. it is known for sure only from a few xeric calcareous sites within the northeastern Knobs (at least LEWI) and the Big Barrens region (at least HART and WARR). Several records are not supported by accessed colls. There has also been an erroneous record from JEFF (APSC), with label data in SERNEC (2019/8/9) that applies to the coll. from HART instead (M; and pers. comm.). L. cylindracea and hirsuta sensu stricto both differ from squarrosa as follows (FNA 21, W): outer phyllaries shorter than the inner phyllaries (versus at least as long), erect-appressed to spreading or reflexed, the spreading portion 0-2 mm long (versus >2 mm), often with a hyaline border (versus not so). L. cylindracea is generally glabrous, but some plants mapped here are hairy, suggesting introgression with squarrosa (Cusick 1989; FNA 21). Such putative intermediate plants are also locally frequent in some glades of Tenn. (TENN), Ala. (Allison & Stephens 2001) and Ga. (M. Medley, pers. comm.). Such plants may be referred to hirsuta instead, which differs from cylindracea in its more hairy condition and in its phyllaries that appear somewhat transitional to squarrosa (FNA 21, W); see notes under hirsuta.