Disturbed, sunny areas, roadsides, dry banks, and shores.  A European subshrubby perennial forming small, evergreen mounds. Often cultivated and known from a few collections outside of cultivation. First collected by H. Gall in Benzie Co. in 1979.

The flowers are white and the inflorescences elongate in fruit, as in I. amara; I. sempervirens has narrow, entire leaves, whereas I. amara has toothed, ± oblanceolate leaves.