Centaurium pulchellum, Showy Centaury. This tiny, non-native member of the Gentianaceae grows in ruderal areas of northern Indiana. It prefers barren gray clay and compacted limestone gravel. This one was growing in compacted gravel at Beverly Shores, Indiana. I'm reminded of Aldo Leopold's description of tiny Draba: "... just a small creature that does a small job quickly and well." I'm claiming the Gentianaceae.
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I found a few individuals of this species in crushed gravel at the edge of a wetland last year and kept wondering why I couldn't get anywhere in the Sabatia key...
At a site in Berrien County, Michigan a few years ago, Ellery and I saw Centaurium erythraea, which is similar to this species of Centaurium but has sessile flowers, at a site growing with Sabatia angularis. It was interesting to see how similar these two genera are to each other.
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