''Dianthus'' ( ) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 340

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

mainly to Europe and Asia, with a few species in north Africa and in southern Africa, and one species (''D. repens'') in arctic North America. Common names include carnation (''D. caryophyllus''), pink (''D. plumarius'' and related species) and sweet william (''D. barbatus'').

Description

The species are mostly

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennials In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

, a few are annual or biennial, and some are low

subshrub A subshrub (Latin ''suffrutex'') or undershrub is either a small shrub (e.g. prostrate shrubs) or a perennial that is largely herbaceous but slightly woody at the base (e.g. garden pink and florist's chrysanthemum). The term is often interch ...

s with woody basal stems. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are opposite, simple, mostly linear and often strongly

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...

grey green to blue green. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s have five petals, typically with a frilled or pinked margin, and are (in almost all species) pale to dark pink. One species, ''D.'' ''knappii'', has yellow flowers with a purple centre. Some species, particularly the perennial pinks, are noted for their strong spicy fragrance.

Taxonomy

Species

Selected species include: Hybrids include; * 'Devon Xera' – Fire Star Dianthus * 'John Prichard'

Etymology

The name ''Dianthus'' is from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

διόσανθος, a compound from the words Δῖος ''Dios'' ("of Zeus") and ἄνθος ''anthos'' ("flower"), and was cited by the Greek botanist

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

. The colour

pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

may be named after the flower, coming from the frilled edge of the flowers: the verb "to pink" dates from the 14th century and means "to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern", as demonstrated by the name of "

pinking shears Pinking shears are scissors with saw-toothed blades instead of straight blades. They produce a zigzag pattern instead of a straight edge. Before pinking scissors were invented, a pinking punch or pinking iron was used to punch out a decorative ...

", special scissors for cloth that create a zigzag or decorative edge that discourages fraying. Alternatively, "pink" may be derived from the Dutch "pinksteren" alluding to the season of flowering; "pinksteren" meaning "

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

" in Dutch. Thus the colour may be named after the flower, rather than the flower after the colour.

Ecology

''Dianthus'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species including

cabbage moth The cabbage moth (''Mamestra brassicae'') is primarily known as a pest that is responsible for severe crop damage of a wide variety of plant species. The common name, cabbage moth, is a misnomer as the species feeds on many fruits, vegetables, ...

, double-striped pug,

large yellow underwing The large yellow underwing (''Noctua pronuba'') is a moth, the type species for the family Noctuidae. It is an abundant species throughout the Palearctic realm, one of the most common and most familiar moths of the region. In some years the speci ...

and the lychnis. Also three species of ''

Coleophora ''Coleophora'' is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions. Many authors have t ...

'' case-bearers feed exclusively on ''Dianthus''; ''C.'' ''dianthi'', ''C.'' ''dianthivora'' and ''C.'' ''musculella'' (which feeds exclusively on ''D.'' ''superbus'').

Cultivation

Since 1717, dianthus species have been extensively bred and hybridised to produce many thousands of

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s for garden use and

floristry Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers ...

, in all shades of white, pink, yellow and red, with a huge variety of flower shapes and markings. They are often divided into the following main groups: * Border carnations – fully hardy, growing to , large blooms * Perpetual flowering carnations – grown under glass, flowering throughout the year, often used for exhibition purposes, growing to * Malmaison carnations – derived from the variety 'Souvenir de la Malmaison', growing to , grown for their intense "clove" fragrance * Old-fashioned pinks – older varieties; evergreen perennials forming mounds of blue-green foliage with masses of flowers in summer, growing to * Modern pinks – newer varieties, growing to , often blooming two or three times per year * Alpine pinks – mat-forming perennials, suitable for the rockery or

alpine garden An alpine garden (or alpinarium, alpinum) is a domestic or botanical garden, or more often a part of a larger garden, specializing in the collection and cultivation of alpine plants growing naturally at high altitudes around the world, such as in ...

, growing to Over 100 varieties have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Culture

In the

language of flowers Floriography (language of flowers) is a means of cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers. Meaning has been attributed to flowers for thousands of years, and some form of floriography has been practiced in tradition ...

, pink ''Dianthus'' symbolize boldness. '' Dianthus gratianopolitanus'' – the Cheddar pink – was chosen as the county flower of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity

Plantlife Plantlife is a wild plant conservation charity. , it manages 24 nature reserves around the United Kingdom. HM King Charles III is patron of the charity. History Plantlife was founded in 1989. Its first president was Professor David Bellamy ...

.Plantlife websit
''County Flowers page''.
'' Dianthus japonicus'' is the official flower of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan. In Japan, ''

Dianthus superbus ''Dianthus superbus'', the fringed pink or large pink, is a species of ''Dianthus'' native to Europe and northern Asia, from France north to arctic Norway, and east to Japan; in the south of its range, it occurs at high altitudes, up to 2,400 m. ...

'' – the fringed pink or nadeshiko – is used in the term

Yamato nadeshiko ''Yamato nadeshiko'' ( or ) is a Japanese language, Japanese term meaning the "Anthropomorphism, personification of an idealized Japanese woman." The term is the archetype of conservative and traditional femininity. Name origin and connotatio ...

to describe the archetype of a traditional ideal woman.

Gallery

File:Dianthus alpinus Alpennelke Rax.jpg, '' Dianthus alpinus'' File:Spring Flowers.JPG, '' Dianthus barbatus'' File:Dianthus carthusianorum 160505.jpg, '' Dianthus carthusianorum'' File:Starr 070730-7932 Dianthus caryophyllus.jpg, ''

Dianthus caryophyllus ''Dianthus caryophyllus'' ( ), commonly known as carnation or clove pink, is a species of '' Dianthus'' native to the Mediterranean region. Its exact natural range is uncertain due to extensive cultivation over the last 2,000 years. Carnations ...

'' File:Dianthus caryophyllus0.jpg, ''

'' seed heads File:Dianthus chinensis × barbatus.jpg, Hybrid ''Dianthus chinensis × barbatus'' File:Dianthus monspessulanus.jpg, '' Dianthus monspessulanus'' File:Dianthus monspessulanus 6.JPG, Carnation '' Dianthus monspessulanus'' File:Dianthus shinanensis Shinanonadeshiko in eboshidake 1997-8-14.jpg, '' Dianthus shinanensis''

References

External links

The Plant List
{{Authority control Caryophyllaceae genera Saponaceous plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus