Stems slender, 4-10 dm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent below, becoming minutely but densely velvety-puberulent above and on the pedicels, often also with a few scattered long hairs; basal lvs long-petioled, with mostly 3 obovate lfls; cauline lvs mostly shorter-petioled, with more oblong-lanceolate to rhombic lfls, the uppermost simple and subsessile; pet white, nearly as long as the sep, or longer; head of frs obovoid, 10-15 mm; receptacle densely bristly, the hairs protruding among the ovaries at anthesis but shorter than the achenes, these hairy at least above, 2.5-3.5 mm excluding the style; 2n=42. Dry or moist woods; N.S. to Minn. and N.D., s. to Ga. and Tex. May, June. (G. camporum)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
This is a woodland species well distributed throughout the state. It prefers a moist soil. Usually there are only a few plants growing at one place, but rarely it is found in dense or large colonies. [Deam's var. grimesii has glandular peduncles.] This variety is local but frequent in its habitat. It prefers a hard, white clay soil in pin oak, sweet gum, and river birch woods. It is easily distinguished in the field by its wide upper leaves.