Frequent in southern Indiana in woodland along logging roads and in fallow cornfields. It grows only on bare spots in moist, minimacid soil, associated in logging roads usually with Gratiola neglecta and in fields with Poa Chapmaniana, Alopecurus carolinianus, and Arabis virginica. It is so small and inconspicuous that it is usually overlooked.

Stems tufted, 2-5 cm; lvs spatulate or oblanceolate, 2-5 mm, obscurely 3- nerved, not lepidote; pedicels ±erect, half to fully as long as the fr; fr 0.5-0.7 mm, 0.7-1 mm wide, deeply notched at both ends, its lobes very narrowly winged and separated by a deep groove; style persistent, recurved, shorter than the fr; 2n=10. Damp, usually shaded soil; Mass. to O., s. to Fla. and Tex. (C. deflexa var. austinii)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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