This ranges from mid-Atlantic states to the eastern edge of the Ozarks and Ouachitas regions (K). In most states across its range (NatureServe 2024), peramoena is considered vulnerable (S3) to endangered (S1); Illinois may be the only state where it is considered secure (S4 in Natural Heritage system). In Ky. most records are from lowlands of the Shawnee Hills and Coastal Plain,,growing in thin swampy woods (usually with Quercus palustris and Liquidambar) and in associated openings with damp medium-acid soils. P. peramoena is virtually absent from landscapes with more fertile soils that have been largely converted to agriculture, especially the Bluegrass region, except for a few old river terraces with exogenous alluvium (Bryant 1978, Meijer et. al. 1981). However, there are many records from se. Ind. and sw. Ohio in transitions from the Bluegrass to glaciated land (K). The type at GH is a coll.. of C.W. Short in 1835 from "wetlands about Louisville" (JEFF); his coll. at PH was initially collected by H.A. Griswold, with the note "beautiful and abundant". MM also collected the species from the Fairdale area of JEFF in 1987 and it has been rediscovered there in 2024.