It is widely distributed in the southeastern United States and is listed as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The species got its name from the Tennessee state wildflower and symbol Passiflora incarnata (passionflower), which is termed "ocoee" in the Cherokee tribe.

Populations in central Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, and northeastern Alabama usually have a dark brown or black color, and faded larval spots.

The more numerous is in the Blue Ridge Mountains and at lower levels in the gorges of the rivers Hiwassee, Ocoee, Tugaloo and Tallulah.

It is found close to fast flowing mountain streams, in seepage areas, on moist forest floors and on wet rocks.

Overall, the population trends for the ocoee salamanders in the Appalachian Mountains have not changed significantly in the last twenty years.

[4] Before the advancement of genetic and molecular techniques, the classification of plethodontids was limited by geographical and morphological differences between individuals and groups.

This was not a very accurate method for taxonomy because the color patterns and phenotypic variations among the family of Plethodontids was conserved and the genetic underpinnings of these morphological traits were not well known.

Pheromones from other individuals are detected by the chemosensory receptors on the vomeronasal organ and main olfactory epithelium.

[11] Chemosensory cues such as pheromones play an important role in mating because they bring males and females together in both aquatic and terrestrial environments.

These cues can signal a variety of information to others in the surrounding area, including the species, sex, and the reproductive condition of the individual.

The females will also signal attraction through chemical cues, reduced tendencies to flee from courting males, and a willingness to engage in tail-straddle walk, which is the phase in courtship where insemination occurs.

A spermatophore is a gelatinous capsule containing spermatozoa, and it is accepted into the female's reproductive organ, the cloaca, where it is stored until fertilization.

[11] Ocoee salamanders do internal fertilization and thus postcopulatory sexual selection plays an important role in their reproduction.

Females tend to engage in multiple matings throughout these 9 months, and store sperm in their bodies for extensive periods.

Sperm from the males are stored in spermatheca, an organ in the female's reproductive tract, until June and July, during which ovulation, fertilization, and oviposition all occur rapidly.

Until the fertilization event, sperm require hospitable conditions to survive in, and are stored in the spermatheca, where they remain viable.

[12] Oviposition occurs from June to September on land, after which the female tends her clutch of 9–32 eggs for 6–8 weeks.

During oviposition, females tend to deposit their eggs in cavities under rocks, moss, decaying logs, leaf litter, springs, and behind vegetation or in other crevices.

Upon hatching, D. ocoee larvae have short and silvery external gills, and they often have distinctive larval spots that other species do not have.

Usually, the larvae metamorphose into their adult form in the following few weeks, the time depending on the availability of food, other resources in the environment, and the temperature.