This rosette-forming perennial occurs mostly in the Ohio Valley (including Tennessee Rv.), where it replaces the closely related northern species, virginianum. H. macrophyllum typically grows in mesic to subxeric woods with base-rich soils (largely absent on more acid soils), and on slightly drier sites than canadense; both species flower in late May (to early Jun), mostly one to two weeks later than appendiculatum. Its distinctive leaves are hairy, pinnatifid and the lower ones usually mottled with pale patches. Although virginianum has been widely used by humans for edible greens, there is no clear record of such use for macrophyllum. A remarkable colony of this species has appeared in recent years along the old railroad at the Gaineswasy Farm on uplands in northern FAYE, where Euonymus fortunei had been killed (P. Douglas, pers. comm.); it is associated with Dentaria laciniata, Enemion biternatum and Polygonatum biflorum.