The top of the stem is occupied by the inflorescence, which is a raceme of star-shaped yellow flowers interspersed with leaflike green bracts.

[1] The soil is seasonally wet to waterlogged or submerged, low in nutrients, rich in peat over sandy substrates.

Fire prevents ecological succession, maintaining a type of ecosystem in which the taller vegetation is kept small and sparse, allowing the herb layer to flourish in the sun.

[1] Trees, shrubs, and ferns in the area include Aronia arbutifolia (chokeberry), Clethra alnifolia (summersweet), Cyrilla racemiflora (titi), Fothergilla gardenii (dwarf fothergilla), Ilex glabra (Appalachian tea), Magnolia virginiana (sweetbay), Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern), Persea palustris (swampbay), Symplocos tinctoria (yellowwood), and Vaccinium species (wild blueberries).

Herbs, grasses, and mosses associated with this ecosystem include Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem), Aristida stricta (wiregrass), Drosera intermedia (oblong-leaved sundew), Drosera capillaris (pink sundew), Lachnanthes caroliniana (redroot), Peltandra sagittifolia (spoon flower), Sarracenia flava (yellow pitcher plant), and Sphagnum species (sphagnum mosses).

[1] In the 1980s the only known viable populations of the plant were located in Green Swamp Nature Preserve and the Croatan National Forest, and at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point.

[4] A program of prescribed fire was instituted on military base territory in the region to preserve habitat for the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis).

[1][4] Agriculture, including pine plantations, and other types of operations alter the hydrology of the wetlands, making conditions unsuitable for this and other native plants.