Here ya go, how's this for a closeup?

Love those mountain pinks! Thank you both for the gorgeous pictures of your blooming native plants.

I read that when Lady Bird Johnson was looking for a place to plant mountain pink seeds she chose the slooping edges of the Air Force One runway on the Johnson ranch which had been built up and leveled with rubble. They flourished there.

Thanks for sharing the photos. Nice having a name to put with another beautiful roadside flower.

One search quirk is that Google didn't initially return this plant in the first few pages for "mountain pinkS". Had to use singular form ("mountain pink") to find it on wildflower.org. Either works for me now that Google knows what I was looking for. Both forms seem to be in common use for Centaurium beyrichii, but without history, the Google algorithm apparently associates the plural form with creeping phlox and the single form with centaurium. Just mentioning in case anyone else is looking.

I have a hard time finding it also on the net. I will have to remember about the the little "s". Life is in the details, and they often escape me and leave me hanging..

Are any of you familiar with the plant Centaurium texense, aka Zeltnera texensis or Lady Bird's Centaury? Looks like a waifish relative of mountain pink.

Yes, I see it every moist spring. I should see it this spring. It grows in the meadow on the richer flatter soil that grass grows on. I do have a hard time telling it apart from Meadow pink. Matter of fact , I always called it Meadow pink but I think it is the other one. Meadow pink , i think is taller and in taller grasses to the east of here. Darn, the LBJ site is down for double checking. So I can't look smart today. There are several different versions of this corner of "floradom"

WoodsTea, C. texense is kinda common here in Kyle, TX. Au contraire, C. beyricii is more elusive. I have seen it growing only on soft hills of caliche soil by Wimberley. TX. C. texense grows mostly in flat, prairie-like areas, during spring and fall. I rarely see it during summer.

Omar

So that's what they are - Mountain pinks. Thanks for the photos and IDs!
I've seen them occasionally while driving SW and was quite taken with the bouquet appearance.

Gorgeous! That plant has been on my wishlist for a long time

The mountain pinks like a sloped surface of disturbed caliche that water flows periodically across. They do not like a lot of competition and no shade. Omar, as you notice the dates on the original entry ( July), they will grow in summer here. Think their growth spurt is entirely dependent on when they get their bounce of moisture. I have seen them spurt off after a august break in the endless summer, putting their bloom in early fall on a rare occasion. They are difficult to grow in a garden situation but Texas ranger has succeeded at it in OKC. I have heard that they grow elsewhere than just caliche, even though that is where I see it. The seeds need to sit and mature on the bouquets and are ready for picking in November/December.

Mara, Texasranger doesn't count. I am talking about regular gardens. I think she has an obscure deal with nature that would allow her to grow arctic plants in the desert if she wanted to.

Omar

OKC is much more arid than eastern Oklahoma, those xerics fit in quite well there. I don't want to discount TR's skill, but it suits her climate pretty well.

Omar, nothing obscure about it. Txranger's link is a direct one with no static on the line. I am mixing my metaphors.

I was teasing. My comment only meant to point out TR's above-average gardening skills.

Is this a purple prairie clover? It looks like the one wantonamara posted in her OP.

YEP, It looks like the beginning flowering of Dalea pupuria. They are in bud at my place. I think they are waiting for some heat to let loose

Cool. I picked from finished seed heads from that too.

The seedbeds are pretty distinctive. The flower keeps blooming along its central bud and stretches out.