Dunes, sandy or even gravelly beaches (rarely rock crevices), and adjacent disturbed ground (or relic on old dune ridges) along the Great Lakes. Our only inland collection is from Higgins Lake, presumably the north end in Crawford Co., by one of the Government surveyors in 1849 (G. H. Cannon, MSC).

This is a circumpolar species, found on shores of the oceans and some of the largest inland lakes, including all five Great Lakes (though not yet found on the few bits of sandy shoreline on the Michigan portion of Lake Erie. White-flowered forms occur rarely.