marbled wild-ginger

Asarum marmoratum is endemic to southwestern Oregon and northern California, where it grows in the Siskiyou Mountains and adjacent slopes of the Cascade Range. The elevational range is 200–1,800 m (660–5,900 ft). Typical habitat includes dry or mesic forests, exposed, rocky slopes, and roadcuts, where it is associated with Douglas fir, Abies concolor, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, and Quercus sadleriana. It is not known to be sympatric with the morphologically similar A. hartwegii but sometimes grows with A. caudatum. Its distribution consists of widely scattered populations, most of which are small but vary considerably in the number of individuals. The the plant's distribution ranges from southern Lane County, Oregon to 20 mi (32 km) south of the Oregon state border in Del Norte and Siskiyou County, California. Records of A. marmoratum from Shasta County, California were later determined to be A. hartwegii. The species is far more common in southwestern Oregon than in California, where there are only eleven known occurrences.

The seeds of A. marmoratum have fleshy appendage called a funiculus that attracts ants. The ants transport the seeds, serving as the species' primary means of dispersal through a process called myrmecochory. Because ants typically carry the seeds short distances, this dispersal mechanism has limited potential to expand the species' geographic range but helps maintain continuity within existing populations.