''Dianthus armeria'', the Deptford pink or grass pink,Dickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004) ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, p. 234. is a species of ''

Dianthus ''Dianthus'' () is a genus of about 340 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, native mainly to Europe and Asia, with a few species in north Africa and in southern Africa, and one species (''D. repens'') in arctic North Ameri ...

'' ("pink") native to most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

north to southern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and southern

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and east to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

.Flora Europaea
''Dianthus armeria''
/ref>Den Virtuella Floran

/ref>Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). ''Flora of Britain and Northern Europe''. It is naturalised in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Description

''Dianthus armeria'' is an annual or biennial plant which grows to about tall and has a very slender appearance. It has widely spaced, paired leaves, and above these it branches rather sparingly. At the ends of the stems there are short-stalked or stalkless clusters of deep-pink flowers that are surrounded by erect, hairy, leaf-like bracts. These can also be located laterally. Each flower is in diameter and has 5

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...

petals, each with irregular serrated edges and small white spotting on the upper surface. The leaves are hairy, dark green in colour and slim in shape.

Distribution

''Dianthus armeria'' is native to Europe, where it is widespread as far north as 60°N in Scandinavia, extending eastwards to Armenia and the

, and as far south as Spain and Sicily. It has been introduced to North America, where it is now naturalised and is widespread. In Britain it is now extirpated as a native species from Scotland and is known from a few dozen sites in England and 4-5 sites in Wales, including a nature reserve in

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, a quarry near

Pontypridd () (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vil ...

, near a reservoir in the vicinity of

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

and along a farm track on a site near

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

Habitat and ecology

''Dianthus armeria'' is a species of open and periodically disturbed sites. It is normally an annual but can be biennial or a short-lived perennial. New leaf rosettes form at the base of old plants from buds located on their roots, demonstrating that this species is in fact a short-lived perennial and has a life-span of less than two and a half years. It flowers from July to September. Its flowers are scentless and do not appear to be insect pollinated often, with self-pollination the norm. Each plant gradually releases around 400 seeds from their pods; however, some plants may hold a small fraction of the seeds they produce over winter. It closes its blooms in the late afternoons.

Cultivation and uses

It is widely grown as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

in gardens. Populations have been introduced to and have become

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the i ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and much of

Name

The name Deptford pink was coined in the 17th century by naturalist Thomas Johnson, who described a pink flower growing in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

in South-East London. However, it is very likely that Johnson was actually describing the related

maiden pink ''Dianthus deltoides'', the maiden pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to most of Europe and western Asia.Den Virtuella Floran''Dianthus deltoides'' (in Swedish, with maps)/ref>Flora Europaea''Dianthus deltoides''/ref>Blamey, M. & Grey-Wils ...

, and it is unlikely that this species has grown in the area it is named after since the city of London was built.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q158855

armeria ''Armeria'' is a genus of flowering plants. These plants are sometimes known as "lady's cushion", "thrift", or "sea pink" (the latter because as they are often found on coastlines). The genus counts over a hundred species, mostly native to the ...

Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Europe Flora of Portugal Flora of Finland Flora of the United Kingdom Flora of Ukraine Flora of the Caucasus