Wide-ranging in the eastern United States and native at least in part in Michigan, though somewhat weedy. Habitats recorded for it are as diverse as its morphology; usually in dry sandy ground, including oak forests, but also in moist ground; roadsides, prairies, clearings, fields, river banks, and other places.

This species is unfortunately somewhat of a variable species in which have been accommodated all the eastern polyploid sunflowers that cannot be placed in any other species. It also seems to intergrade with others and to be quite plastic in leaf shape and other characters. For example, several specimens with leaves densely pubescent beneath and other characters of this taxon have the long phyllaries of H. decapetalus. Others seem to approach H. divaricatus.