''Centaurium pulchellum '' is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common name lesser centaury, or slender centaury. It differs from ''

Centaurium erythraea ''Centaurium erythraea'' is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common names common centaury and European centaury. Description This is an erect biennial herb which reaches half a meter in height. It grows from a sma ...

'' by lacking basal rosette of leaves and by having a developed peduncle below the flowers. It is often much smaller, less than ten centimetres. It is native to the southern temperate parts of Europe.

Description

Lesser centaury is an erect annual herb branching from the base, often less than tall, and much smaller than

common centaury ''Centaurium erythraea'' is a species of flowering plant in the gentian family known by the common names common centaury and European centaury. Description This is an erect biennial herb which reaches half a meter in height. It grows from a sma ...

(''Centaurium erythraea''). Sometimes it is reduced to a single stem with one flower. By the time it flowers, from June to September, there is no basal rosette. The leafy stem has opposite pairs of narrow oval leaves. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a group of a few pale pink star-like flowers, each with a short stalk, a tube and five narrow petals, about across, flat-faced with yellow

anthers The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

. Like other members of the family, the flowers close in the afternoon. The calyx is about as long as the fruit, which is a cylindrical capsule.

Distribution and habitat

This plant is found in the southerly temperate zones of Europe. It occurs mainly in the southern half of the British Isles, especially near the south coast of England. It grows on a range of soil types, from calcareous to mildly acidic. On the coast it can be found in open sandy and muddy turf, often in saltmarshes, sand dunes and beside estuaries. Inland it inhabits lowland dry, open grasslands, heaths, woodland glades and rides, marl pits and other unshaded, disturbed ground. In

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...

, it is at the northern end of its range on the saltmarshes, growing with ''

Juncus gerardii ''Juncus gerardii'', commonly known as blackgrass, black needle rush or saltmarsh rush, is a flowering plant in the rush family Juncaceae. Distribution ''Juncus gerardii'' is mainly a coastal species, occurring at the high tide mark on the Medit ...

'', ''

Juncus maritimus ''Juncus maritimus'', known as the sea rush, is a species of rush that grows on coastlines. It is sometimes considered conspecific with '' Juncus kraussii''. It has a wide distribution across the western Palearctic realm (all of Europe, western ...

'', ''

Blysmus rufus ''Blysmus rufus'' is a species of sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the larges ...

'' and '' Eleocharis quinqueflora''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q164219 pulchellum Flora of Europe Flora of temperate Asia Flora of tropical Asia Flora of Africa