This is widely distributed across eastern North America, but it is rare to absent in many regions, especially the central and lower Ohio Valley (K). In Ky. it occurs mostly in thin woods and scoured edges along larger streams, especially on sandy soils. It can hybridiize with other species; see notes under virginiana. In some records, there has been confusion with cultivars of possible hybrid origin. T. ohiensis differs from other eastern species as follows (FNA 22, W): plants distinctly glaucous (versus not so); sepals glabrous or the tip with a tuft of eglandular microscopic hairs (versus usuallly with distinct pubescence); leaves usually glabrous (versus glabrous or pubescent), up to 40-45 cm long (versus 30-35 cm), arcing at an acute angle to the stem (versus often or usually spreading). Dean (1959) stated: "Tradescantia ohiensis exists in a wild state in a diploid form and a tetraploid form which cannot be distinguished by morphological criteria... Edgar Anderson has made extensive studies of the distribution of diploid and tetraploid Tradescantia ohiensis... He found tetraploids to predominate throughout most of the United States east of the Great Plains. He found diploids most abundant in Texas where diploids of other species of Tradescantia are centered, but he also found diploids in isolated areas of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, and Louisiana."