This occurs mostly in woods on moderately dry, acid soils in Appalachian regions or nearby, with scattered records north to Vt.., south to Fla., west to s. Ind. and w. Ky. It is generally distinct in its spreading petioles, with blades that often lie near the ground; also, blades are generally small, with blunt to rounded apices; upper surfaces are silvery- or gray-green with contrasting dark green or red-purple veins, with conspicuous stiff ascending or spreading hairs uniformly distributed; lower surfaces are usually purple-tinged and consistently glabrous. Flowers are similar to sororia, except that calices are eciliate (versus often ciliate); and spurred petals are densely bearded (versus glabrous). V. hirsutula is close to the southeastern V. villosa Walt., and it seems to hybridize often with other species: sororia, affinis, communis, palmata. The colls. mapped here from FRAN (EKY) and HENR (KY) may be hybridized with sororia. Some Ky. colls. are glabrate or virtually glabrous, suggesting introgression with affinis. The consistency of pubescence patterns in these taxa needs more critical attention for descriptions and keys.