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Dianthus caryophyllus

Common name:	Carnation	Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Europe - W. and S. France. Occasionally naturalized in Britain[17].
Habitat:	A plant of limestone soils, it is often found on old walls in Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Carnation [P,H], Clavel [E], Clove Pink [H], Mekhak [E], Qanafer [E], Qinifil [E], Qronfel [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	caryophyllus = pink colored (t. clove pink [Dianthus caryophyllus], t. clove, t. smell of walnut leaves)
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Pink family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	China Iraq Kurdistan Spain Turkey

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 1m by 0.5m . It is hardy to zone 8 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds, In Walls, In South Wall, In East Wall, In West Wall.

Edible Uses

Condiment Flowers.

The flower petals have a strong smell of cloves and are candied, used as a garnish in salads, for flavouring fruit, fruit salads etc. They can also be used as a substitute for rose petals in making a syrup[183, 238]. The petals should be removed from the calyx and their bitter white base should be removed[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antispasmodic Cardiotonic Diaphoretic Febrifuge Nervine Stimulant.

Carnation flowers are an aromatic, stimulant herb that has been used in tonic cordials in the past to treat fevers, though this use is now obsolete[238]. It is traditionally prescribed in European herbal medicine to treat coronary and nervous disorders[254]. The flowers are considered to be alexiteric, antispasmodic, cardiotonic, diaphoretic and nervine[240].
The plant has been used as a vermifuge in China[240].

Other Uses

Essential Soap.

An essential oil is obtained from the flowers[46, 171]. It is used in perfumery. 500kg of flowers produce 100g of oil[61]. The flowers are harvested when they are fully open in the morning, preferably after 3 hours exposure to sunlight[238].
The flower heads are dried and used in pot-pourri, scented sachets and cosmetic products[238, 268].
The plant is quite rich in saponins. The leaves can be simmered in water and this water can then be used as a soap for cleaning the skin, clothes etc[201].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in a sunny position in most good soils[111, 200] tolerating a pH range from 6 to 8 but disliking acid soils[200]. A very tolerant plant, succeeding in the salt laden air and strong winds of the coast as well as in the sulphur polluted air of cities[200].
This species is not hardy in the colder areas of the country, it tolerates temperatures down to about -10° c[200].
A very ornamental plant[1], the carnation is widely cultivated in the flower garden and is grown commercially in France for its essential oil[46]. There are many named varieties[200]. The flowers of the species have a rich clove-like perfume, though almost no scent is present in the orange and yellow-flowering cultivars[245].
The flowers are very attractive to butterflies and moths[17].
Plants are prone to mildew or leaf spot in humid climates[201].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in slight heat in a greenhouse[1]. The seed usually germinates in 2 - 3 weeks at 15° c. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.
Layering in July[1].
Cuttings of non-flowering basal shoots, June/July in a frame[200]. Harvest the shoots when they are about 10cm long with plenty of underground stem. Pot them up into individual pots and keep them in light shade in a cold frame or greenhouse until they are rooting well. Plant them out in the summer.

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers have a rich clove-like perfume.

Cultivars

'': There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Caryophyllaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[111] Sanders. T. W. Popular Hardy Perennials. Collingridge 1926
A fairly wide range of perennial plants that can be grown in Britain and how to grow them.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[201] Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
A well produced and very readable book.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

[268] Stuart. M. (Editor) The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism Orbis Publishing. London. 1979 ISBN 0-85613-067-2
Excellent herbal with good concise information on over 400 herbs.

Readers Comments

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