Centaurium pulchellum
Tracheophyta
›Magnoliopsida›Gentianaceae›Centaurium›Centaurium pulchellum
Ecology
An erect annual of mildly acidic to calcareous soils. Inland it is found in dry, open grasslands and heaths, in woodland rides, marl pits and other open, disturbed ground. On the coast it is a plant of open sandy and muddy grassy places, often by estuaries, sand dunes and in upper saltmarsh. Lowland.
Status
Native
Trends
The overall distribution of this species has remained stable although there has been some decline on heathland due to lack of management (particularly grazing), and coastal development has led to the loss of some of its former sites. It is much better recorded than in the 1962 Atlas.
World Distribution
Eurosiberian Southern-temperate element.
© L. Rooney
Sandwich, Kent
© L. Rooney
Broad Habitats
Littoral sediment (includes saltmarsh and saltmarsh pools)
Light (Ellenberg): 8
Moisture (Ellenberg): 8
Reaction (Ellenberg): 8
Nitrogen (Ellenberg): 3
Salt Tolerance (Ellenberg): 1
January Mean Temperature (Celsius): 4.4
July Mean Temperature (Celsius): 16.1
Annual Precipitation (mm): 841
Height (cm): 20
Perennation - primary
Annual
Life Form - primary
Therophyte (annual land plant)
Woodiness
Herbaceous
Clonality - primary
Little or no vegetative spread
Count of 10km squares in Great Britain: 457
Count of 10km squares in Ireland: 17
Count of 10km squares in the Channel Isles: 8
Atlas Change Index: 0.1
Weighted Changed Factor: 5
Weighted Change Factor Confidence (90%)
51
JNCC Designations
NBNSYS0000003958