It is native to the southeastern United States, where it occurs along the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains from Texas to New Jersey, the range extending inland to Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

[1][4][5][6][7] This plant is a monocotyledonous woody vine that forms dense colonial thickets and climbs over other vegetation.

[4] The leathery evergreen leaves are linear, lance-shaped, or oval and reach 13 centimeters long by 6 wide.

[4] This plant provides habitat for many types of animals, such as white-tailed deer, bobcat, gray squirrel, Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, American alligator, pine barrens tree frog, and the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

It grows alongside a variety of rare such as white wickey (Kalmia cuneata), arrowleaf shieldwort (Peltandra sagittaefolia), spring-flowering goldenrod (Solidago verna), and rough-leaf loostrife (Lysimachia asperulaefolia).

The tuberous rhizome was also a food source; the Choctaw made it into fried cakes and bread.