This occurs mostly from the glaciated midwest to the northern Ridge & Valley; core range is in Ind., Mich., Ohio and Pa., but there are scattered records from adjacent states (Campbell & Seymour 2013). In Ky., the species remains poorly known and it may be endangered; most records come from lowlands in or near the Knobs region and Eden Shale Hills. However, a widely grown cultivar from Ohio is "Viette’s Little Suzy". R. speciosa is often confused with tenax, but it can be distinguished as follows: mid-stem leaves mostly with L/W ca. 7-12 (versus 4-6), and with 1-3+ distinct teeth on each margin, irregularly spaced and coarse, their sinuses generally 1-10 mm deep (versus 3-5+ distinct leaf teeth on each margin, their sinuses no more than ca. 1 mm deep); petioles of basal leaves mostly 6-12 cm (versus 3-6 cm); rays mostly 1.5-2.5 cm (versus 1-2 cm). It is mostly recorded from relatively damp lowland habitats, in contrast to the rocky glades of typical tenax, but there is some overlap of range and habitat. The coll. from WOOD (Wharton #8562 at EKY) appears somewhat intermediate.