This occurs mostly in thin swampy riparian woods on the Gulf Coastal Plain, especially lowlands of the lower Mississippi Rv. and its major tributaries, from La. to s Ill. (K). In Ky. it is documented from only a few sites along the Mississippi Rv. in FULT. Colls. at MUR from CARL (especially) and HICK are atypical and may be introgressed with brevicaulis; 2n = 42 in both species (FNA 26). There is also a record from plants reportedly salvaged from road construction in OHIO or MUHL, but then cultivated by N. Crawford (pers. comm.) and others in the Madisonville area. There is a coll. of fulva from FAYE (KA) by P. Garman, 1 Jun 1906, "near Lexington"; but this was probably from cultivation. Without its distinctive copper-colored or reddish-brown flowers, fulva may be difficult to distinguish from virginica or shrevei (FNA 26); rhizomes are generally more slender (ca. 1.5-2 cm versus 2-4 cm); leaves are generally narrower (ca. 1.5-2.5 cm versus 2.5-3 cm), lightly ribbed (versus more prominently) and perhaps more uniformly bright green (versus gray-green to bright green, buff to purplish basally).