Brown with alternating, dark brown blotches (patterning is obscured in some individuals). Blotches thinly bordered with black. Head smallish. Belly with irregular checkerboard of brown and tan, sometimes with specks of orange. Juveniles like adults but with more contrast. 
Arkansas Herpetological Atlas 2019
This species is represented by 277 records from 26 sources: 200 museum (
), 0 literature (
), 0 research (
), and 56 observation (
), with 21 additional Trauth et al. (2004) locality points remaining unsourced (
). It has been museum vouchered for 51 of 75 counties (), with 5 additional counties having other forms of reported occurrence (). Years of collection range from 1926 to present.
This species is well documented from the Ozark Highlands, Arkansas Valley, Ouachita Mountains, and South Central Plains. However, records are notably absent from the central Boston Mountains and Mississippi Alluvial Plain. A few historic records dated 1951-1970 from the Grand Prairie region may suggest a formerly wider distribution in eastern Arkansas. Two isolated localities plotted by Trauth et al. (2004) in the northeast and southeast corners of the state, respectively, remain unsourced.
