This is widespread in damp lowland woods of southeastern states, but virtually absent from the Ohio Valley north of the Tennessee Rv. (FNA 23, K). In Ky. the only verified record is a coll. from CALL: L. McKinney #4198 (EKY; Naczi et al. 2001). All other previous Ky. records of "abscondita" were segregated as the new species, cumberlandensis. C. abscondita has ca. 8-13 perigynia (versus 4-8), spirally overlapping (versus distichous) in the spikes, and other differences.