Branching shrub 5-10 dm; lvs articulate at the base, narrowly oblong to elliptic or lance-ovate, 3-6 נ1-1.5 cm; fls solitary or 3 at the ends of the branches, subsessile, or rarely 1 or 2 in the upper axils; sep foliaceous, broadly elliptic or ovate, the larger 10-15 mm; pet 10-20 mm; styles mostly 3; fr ovoid conic, 10-13 mm, thick-walled, the placentas intruded but not meeting. Cedar glades, river-bluffs, cliffs, and rocky hills; Tenn. and Ky. to s. Ind., s. Ga., and e. Tex., and occasionally escaped elsewhere. Late May-July. (H. aureum)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
A few plants of this southern species were found in 1935 by Miss Edna Banta along "Brough's Trail" in Clifty Falls State Park, Jefferson County. This species is doubtless a native here because the location is more than a mile from any habitation of consequence and it is not known to be in cultivation anywhere in the vicinity.