This northern and western perennial has been collected at only one sites, but there are other unverified reports (M; T. Littlefield, pers. comm,). Most records come from wet soil below sandstone rockhouses in Appalachian regions. Its more northern (circumboreal) close relative, E. glandulosum Lehm. (ciliatum var. g.), has been reported from BELL, but no coll. has been seen and it may well have been confused with ciliatum. E. ciliatum may also hybridize with coloratum (Cr), and it can be hard to distinguish these two species. E. ciliatum (sensu lato with glandulosum) differs as follows (FNA 10, W): mature seeds with white or dingy tufts of hairs (versus cinnamon-brown); seed surfaces with well-developed papillae arranged conspicuously in lines (versus uniformly scattered or forming weak lines); inflorescence axes usually with a mixture of eglandular and glandular strigillose hairs (versus eglandular only); petals 2-14 mm long, pink, rose, or white (versus 2.5-6.5 mm, white).