This northeastern taxon may not be clearly distinct from dissectum (W. Hauk cited in W), and has been called "embarrassingly transitional" to the more northern (circumboreal) multifidum (F). In Ky. the only verified record is a coll. of M. Medley (for DHL or WKY or APSC) in 1978 from a grassy bald on the summit of Big Black Mt. (HARL). However, the site was later bulldozed (Cranfill 1980); and the coll. remains unprocessed or lost. A previous report from ROWA (Carr & Cohn 1941) had been based on colls. (at MRE & BRIT) of biternatum (Cranfill 1980, Campbell et al. 1992).