| Author | Pantinople, Engle-Wrye, & Folk | |
| Distribution | This is a newly described species in 2024, essentially pulled out from (overlooked as) H. parviflora, by Pantinople et al. in Systematic Botany 49(1): 37-47. The species is limited, so far, to just Jackson and Transylvania counties, NC.
Endemic to extreme southwestern NC, near the GA and SC borders in the "Gorges" region. | |
| Abundance | Limited to a handful of rockhouse sites in the Savannah River drainage; very rare overall. As there are just seven localities known, all within 10 km (6 miles) of each other, the State Rank should be S1; the editors recommend a State Status of SR-L (Limited range). | |
| Habitat | "Rockhouses behind waterfalls, shaded areas, rock outcrops, crevices, and ledges on cliffs, on highly acidic gneiss, (805–)1073–1280 m" (Pantinople et al. 2024). | |
| Phenology | "Flowers from June to October and fruits from June (no specimens were available to confirm the end of the fruiting period)." (Pantinople et al. 2024). | |
| Identification | The species looks quite similar to H. parviflora, as the collected plants were obviously considered as such back in the days when collected, mostly a few decades ago. It is most similar to H. puberula, not found in NC but only in the Ozarks of AR and MO. It differs from H. parviflora, which also grows in the Gorges region, by having some flowers horizontally or sub-horizontally arranged, as opposed to all being pendent (drooping), the petioles being puberulent vs. villous in H. parviflora, and by growing supposedly just on highly acidic gneiss rocks, as opposed to growing on sandstone rocks in the latter species. In addition, this new species begins blooming earlier than does H. parviflora, which begins its blooming period in July. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Recently described in 2024. It is too early to know if this taxon will be considered controversial.
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| Other Common Name(s) | None? No Common Name was suggested or provided in the publication. | |
| State Rank | [S1] | |
| Global Rank | GNR [G1] | |
| State Status | [SR-L] | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | | |
| USACE-emp | | |
