Upland beech-maple and oak forests, persisting after clearing (consequently with as unlikely associates as Opuntia on Oceana Co. sands); also in lowland, even mucky forests. Very local northwards.

An occasional robust plant may have large cauline leaves only 4–5 times as long as broad, but these are more elliptic or oblong than the characteristic diamond-shaped blade leaf blades of C. caroliniana.