Each plant produces one or more clusters of basal leaves from a stout rootstock. These leaves may reach 20 cm in length, although those on young plants are smaller. Leaves generally emerge in March and die in the fall. Flowering plants produce a smooth stem with a few smaller leaves and a single flower in May or June. In sunny habitats, plants may produce a second flower in late summer.
Optimal sites have abundant sunlight and little competition in the herbaceous layer.
The reported historical range of the smooth purple cone-flower included Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas. The species now is known to survive only in Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. These designations require that DOE avoid actions with deleterious impacts to the populations. Both populations are exposed to threats such as power line maintenance activities and accidental herbicide application. Collaborative research also tests management activities, including forest thinning and burning, that might improve coneflower habitat.