It is native to the southern Appalachian Mountains, where it has a distribution scattered across nine states.

It is threatened by disturbances in the hydrology of its habitat, introduced species of plants, and other threats.

[2] It is thought to have been extirpated from the state of Pennsylvania, due to the changes to the Youghiogheny River (the "Yough") caused by damming.

[5] It is often found growing in sandstone bedrock, gravel bars, nooks between boulders, and in riverborne deposits of debris, rubble, and silt.

Other plants in the habitat may include hazel alder (Alnus serrulata), silky dogwood (Cornus amomum), jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), creepers (Parthenocissus), ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), sycamore species (Platanus), blackberries (Rubus), willow species (Salix), American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), soapworts (Saponaria), greenbrier species (Smilax), goldenrod species (Solidago), and poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans).

Populations are isolated from one another, reducing the frequency of its rare sexual reproduction even further.