It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it is known only from a small strip of unique mountain habitat measuring 40 kilometers long.

[1] E. penlandii is a small alpine climate species, possibly a relict from the last ice age which persists in the high, cold fens of the Rocky Mountains.

The plant grows in rocky nooks that shelter it from the wind and keep the mossy peat soil saturated, but not flooded.

The habitat is within a section of the Continental Divide that trends east-west in opposition to the general north–south direction of most of the ranges, and the plants grow on south- and east-facing slopes.

Activities associated with mining, such as ditching, diking, and trail maintenance, alter the hydrology of the landscape, and this is a major threat to the habitat that the plant depends on.