Carnation

Where it grows

Wild Dianthus caryophyllus is native to coastal scrub of the western Mediterranean. The plant has been cultivated for over two thousand years, so completely that the original wild range is uncertain. Commercial cut-flower production is centred on Colombia, Kenya, Italy, and Spain. Garden-form carnations and the cottage-garden pinks (D. plumarius) form a continuous spectrum.

How to recognise it

A grey-leaved evergreen perennial with paired narrow leaves on jointed stems and solitary or branched flower stems thirty to a hundred centimetres tall. Cultivated flowers have many double petals with serrated edges, packed into a tubular calyx that can split if the flower is too full. The clove-pink scent of older varieties is a key family characteristic.

Garden & cultural uses

Carnations are the world’s third-most-traded cut flower after roses and chrysanthemums. Mother’s Day in the United States popularised the white carnation for honouring deceased mothers and the pink for living ones. The red carnation became a left-wing political symbol after the 1974 Portuguese Carnation Revolution.

In etymology

The Latin caryophyllus referred to cloves, and the name “carnation” may come either from coronation (flowers used for crowns) or carnation (flesh-pink colour).