Buds glabrous or sparsely hairy. Inflorescences not conspicuously bracteate; bracts usually all similar to bracteoles (sometimes 1 or 2 larger, leaflike, to 5-15 mm). Pedicels (1-)2-7.5 mm. Flowering spring-early summer. Moist to dry, acid woods and thickets, stream or pond margins, acid swamps or bogs, grassy and/or heath balds; 0-2000 m; Ala., Conn., Del., D.C., Ga., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va.