In Ky. this widespread midwestern species is largely restricted to remnants of thin woodland and grassland on the gravelly eastern margins of the Mississippian Embayment. It is locally frequent at Land-Between-the-Lakes. Further east, it has been reported from WARR, GRAY and HARD (NP); these records appear to be erroneous except perhaps for two patches discovered recently on Fort Knox (B. Yahn, T. Littlefield & H. Braunreiter, pers. comm.). Records mapped here include var. glabrescens, which is often mixed with typical plants and does not seem worth distinguishing. B. leucophaea is however justified as a species distinct from B. bracteata Ell., which has been combined in some treatments; the latter is unknown in Ky. or Tenn. and largely restricted to the southern Piedmont and Ridge-and-Valley (W). There has also been some confusion with leucantha or other species in Ky. B. leucophaea is distinguished from leucantha as follows (Isely 1990; W): racemes ascending to spreading to declined, usually secund (versus relatively elongated and erect); flowering pedicels mostly 10-20 mm long (versus 3-10 mm), subtended by persistent bracts 10-25 mm long and 7-10 mm wide (versus 4-7 x 1-2 mm); flowers creamy-white to pale-yellow (versus plain white). Even without flowers or fruits, leucophaea can usually be distinguished from other species in Ky. by the sparse to dense hairs on leaves and stems (versus consistently glabrous); also, its stipules are up to 1-4 cm (versus 0.5-2.5 cm) and persistent (versus shed early in leucantha but persistent in australis and aberrans). Moreover, compared to leucantha, leucophaea has relatively short petioiles, mostly 2-10 mm long (versus 10-20 mm); leaflets tend to be more elongated (Isely 1990), up to 8-9.5 cm long (versus 6-8 cm) with L/W up to 5.5 (versus 4.5); and leaflets usually have strong reticulation (versus not so).