This is a cosmopolitan ephemeral annual of seasonally damp bare soil in warmer temperate regions; 2n = 24. Generic placement remains uncertain; the name Anagallis minima (L.) E.H. Krause may be preferred (FNA 8, W). It has rarely been recorded in Ky., but probably often overlooked. It was collected by C.W. Short (PH) but he labelled it Peplis americana (= Elatine a.): "common around Greenville [MUHL], in thin, poor soils, June 1, 1840"; "common in the poor lands and pastures of Muhlenberg county" (Short 1840). In recent years, there have been colls. of R. Thompson from CALL (BEREA); from MADI (BEREA) along Interstate 75 at the KY 21 exit (Abbott et al. 2001); colls. of D. Boone (NKY) and D. Estes (APSC) from HARD along the old road into Eastview Barrens; and a coll. of D. Estes (APSC) from MARS with the Trifolium reflexum at Sharp-Elva flatwoods.