This is concentrated in southwestern states and northern Mexico, but also occurs in disjunct localities east of the Mississippi Rv., from Miss. and Ala. to Ind. and Ohio. It is generally restricted to calcareous sites with little slope and significant puddling early in the growing season but xeric later (Munz 1965; K, W). It tends to be associated with disturbed field margins or roadsides, and is rather infrequent in completely undisturbed rocky glades. However, the species appears to have declined much in Ky. The plant is generally a winter-annual, forming a leafy rosette that puts up a series of large flowers in Apr-Jun with calyx tubes (hypanthia) up to 10-15 cm long. True stems are only 0-1 cm long, with individual fruits (capsules) that combine into a tight sessile, slightly woody cluster on the ground, often 5-10 cm long and wide. The plant dies after flowering, but fruits persist for more than year, superficially resembling pine cones, and gradually weathering but rarely collected or associated with herbarium specimens. Capsules open during rain, when the non-dormant seeds are dispersed by splashing (Walck & Hidayati 2007).