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Dianthus plumarius

Common name:	Pink	Family:	Caryophyllaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Europe. Naturalized in Britain.
Habitat:	Grows in old walls in many parts of Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	D. blandus[G] D. plumarius var. semperflorens[G] D. winteri[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Feathered Pink [P,B], Fragrant Cottage Pink [H], Single Cottage Pink [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	plumarius = plumed;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Caryophyllales. Pink family

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.4m. It is hardy to zone 3. It is in leaf all year, in flower from June to August. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

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

Edible Uses

Flowers.

The petals are made into cordials, syrups, sauces, vinegars etc[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a neutral to slightly alkaline soil in a sunny well-drained position[200]. Succeeds in dry soils and in poor soils[200]. Plants can be grown on walls[200].
There are many named forms, selected for their ornamental value[200]. The flowers are very fragrant[17], diffusing a powerful clove-like scent[245]. Individual plants become rather untidy after a few years and are best replaced every 2 - 4 years[200]. Some older cultivars, such as 'Sops in Wine' have a tendency to flower themselves to death. These should be grown in a richer soil in order to encourage the production of more foliage and should not be allowed to flower in their first year[200].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. 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.
Cuttings, taken at flowering time, with four pairs of leaves and trimmed just below a joint[200].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers diffuse a powerful clove-like scent.

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
[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.
[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

[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.

[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.

[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.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Dianthus+plumarius
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Dianthus+plumarius

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