This variable perennial (2n = 26, 28, 30) is widespread across most of eastern North America, but it is uncommon to absent on the southeastern Coastal Plain, where largely replaced by pubentissima; see notes under that name. Plants known previously as E. corollata var. mollis Millsp. based on their dense hairiness are frequent, especially on drier calcareous sites, but they may not be worth recognizing as a distinct taxon. The epithet mollis may have been misapplied anyway; it has been previously listed as a synonym of pubentissima (Y) and corollata (W). Typical corollata and pubentissima both have hairy forms as well as glabrous. Like most Euphorbia species, these plants have a ancient tradition of medicinal uses. Rafinesque (1833) noted: "Emetic, cathartic, diaphoretic, expectorant, astringent, rubefacient, blistering, and stimulant. These plants are highly recommended by some physicians as equivalent to the officinal Ipecac [presumably Carapichea], which it is said they ought to supersede..." The milky sap can cause skin or eye irritation, as in other species of the genus. However, there is little documentation of this species' chemistry, other than reports of "corollatadiol", a novel triterpene (Piatak & Reimann 1972, Rizk 1987).