Catawba shortia

Flowers: corolla lobes 14-17 mm; styles 6-10(-12) mm.

Flowering Mar-Apr. Moist slopes, stream banks, rock outcrops in humid escarpment gorges, generally in deep shade under Rhododendron maximum; of conservation concern; 200-600 m; N.C.

Variety brevistyla is known only from McDowell County, where it occurs along tributaries of the Catawba River and the North Fork Catawba River, disjunct to the northeast of var. galacifolia by about 100 kilometers. Morphological differences are relatively few, quanti-tative, and overlapping; recognition of two infraspecific taxa emphasizes the geographic disjunction.