In New York, this taxon primarily grows in alpine regions of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks. In this area it is found in open alpine meadows, adjacent to krummholz, occasionally on exposed rocky ledges below the alpine zone, and in acidic peat bogs. It is also disjunct in western New York in very rich peat fens including marl fens (New York Natural Heritage Program 2007). Open, wet, rocky or peaty meadows, fens, bogs, shores (Crins 2002). Bogs, alpine areas (Haines and Vining 1998). Tundra, alpine mats, and acid bogs (Gleason and Cronquist 1991). Forming extensive turf on tundra, acid bogs and peat. Calcareous gravels, shores, and cliffs for var. delicatulus (Fernald 1970).

Alpine meadow A very low-growing community similar in many ways to arctic tundra. Alpine meadows occur above timberline on the higher mountain summits and exposed ridges of the Adirondacks. Dwarf shrublands, small grassy meadows, small boggy depressions, and exposed bedrock with lichens and mosses are all commonly found within this broadly classified community. Marl fen A wetland that occurs on a bed of marl. Marl is a whitish substance that is deposited from water that has a lot of calcium dissolved in it. The whitish substance is calcium carbonate, people used to harvest marl to lime agricultural fields. The marl substrate is always saturated, may be flooded, and has a very high pH, generally greater than 7.5. The main source of water is always groundwater. The plants are often sparse and stunted. Marl fens may occur as small patches within a rich graminoid fen.

Rich graminoid fen A wetland of mostly grasses usually fed by water from highly calcareous springs or seepage. These waters have high concentrations of minerals and high pH values, generally from 6.0 to 7.8. Plant remains do not decompose rapidly and these grasses usually grow on older, undecomposed plant parts.

Arctic Bentgrass (Agrostis mertensii) Tundra Dwarf Birch (Betula glandulosa) Pickering's Reed Bent-grass (Calamagrostis pickeringii) Bigelow Sedge (Carex bigelowii) Few-seeded Sedge (Carex oligosperma) Beaked Spike-rush (Eleocharis rostellata) Purple Crowberry (Empetrum eamesii ssp. atropurpureum) Black Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum ssp. hermaphroditum) False Toadflax (Geocaulon lividum) (Hierochloe alpina ssp. orthantha) Appalachian Fir-clubmoss (Huperzia appressa)

Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis) Boott's Rattlesnake-root (Prenanthes boottii) Lapland Rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum var. lapponicum) Bearberry Willow (Salix uva-ursi) Alpine Goldenrod (Solidago leiocarpa) Mountain Goldenrod (Solidago simplex var. randii) Northern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) Sticky False-asphodel (Triantha glutinosa) Northern Blueberry (Vaccinium boreale) Bog Blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum)