In Britain, honewort is restricted to dry stony limestone sites, typically occurring in short, open, grazed turf on south-facing slopes.

[1] In Britain, honewort is found as a native species in three areas, all in southwest England: the Avon Gorge near Bristol, coastal limestone in South Devon, and in the western Mendip Hills (including the adjacent coast).

Its British range covers around 20 sites in all, and the two largest native populations, comprising around 10,000 plants each, are both in this last area, at Sand Point and Crook Peak.

[3] In the Avon Gorge, it was first found by William Turner in 1562, one of the first rare plants to be documented in Britain.

[2] An 1868 specimen from Long Knoll, in Wiltshire, which may be of this species, is present in Taunton Castle Museum.