This largely Appalachian species is locally abundant on damp, seeping sites of the Cumberland Plateau in Ky. and Tenn. Within Ky. the only known extensions west of the Appalachians are some occurrences among adjacent Knobs, and the remarkable disjunct patch in HARD, discovered by Cranfill (1991). There appear to be two variants in this species, with different degrees of pubescence, which deserves further investigation (Garrison 1992; W). The alien L. japonicum (Thunb.) Swartz has been reported in error from Ky., apparently due to errors in identification (EDDS, K) or labelling (SERNEC).