Rhizomes: internodes short, leaves crowded at rhizome apex. Leaf blade rarely variegate, orbiculate-cordate; calyx tube rhombic-ovoid, conspicuously tapered above middle, with prominent constrictions just above base and just below sinuses, 15-27 × 12-17 mm, inner surface with reticulations absent or poorly developed, ridges 0-1 mm high, lobes erect to spreading, 4-5 × 7-8 mm, adaxially puberulent; stamen connective extending beyond pollen sacs; ovary ca. 1/3-inferior; ovules 6 per locule; styles 2-cleft halfway to stigma.

Flowering spring (May-Jun). Acid soils in deciduous forests, with Kalmia and Rhododendron ; 300-1000 m; Ky., N.C., Tenn.

The distribution of Hexastylis contracta is unique; it is disjunct between the Cumberland Plateau of central Tennessee and Kentucky and the southeastern Blue Ridge Province of western North Carolina.