This globally threatened species s known from scattered localities in southeastern states, mostly on the Coastal Plain. In Tenn. there are disjunct records from the Cumberland Plateau and adjacent oak barrens. It has been reported from Ky. (Cr, FNA 26), apparently based on a coll. not yet relocated (A. Cronquist, pers. comm. to MM). The closely related S. densum (Desr.) Zomlefer & Judd, sensu stricto, is restricted to the southeastern Coastal Plain (Cr, FNA 26, W). Inclusion of these species in Stenanthium is well supported; 2n = 20 throughout the genus.