This is a largely southeastern grass but it also occurs on sandy soils in the southern Great Lakes Region. In northern parts of its range, Piptochaetium is largely restricted to acid sandy soils, but further south it occurs on a wider range of soils (NS, W). In Ky. it is locally abundant in open woods on the southern Cumberland Plateau. The disjunct western record from GRAY (KY) is confirmed; other disjunctions occur in s. Ohio, s. Ill. and w. Tenn. (FNA 24).