Family: Caryophyllaceae, Carnation view all from this family

Description Deep pink or red flowers in flat-topped clusters at the top of stiff, erect stems, prominently swollen where leaves attach.
Flowers: about 1/2" (1.3 cm) wide in a tight, forked, hairy, flower cluster; calyx narrow, tubular, about 1/2" (1.3 cm) wide, with 5 pointed lobes; petals 5, 3/4-1" (2-2.5 cm) long, their bases long and slender, upper ends broad, and with jagged edges and tiny white spots; leaf-like bracts below flowers are lanceolate or awl-shaped.
Leaves: 1-4" (2.5-10 cm) long, opposite, very narrow, those on stem held erect, light green.
Fruit: capsule with 2 styles.
Height: 6-24" (15-60 cm).

Flower May-September.

Habitat Roadsides, lots, and old fields.

Range In the West: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. In the East: Southern Ontario to Nova Scotia; south to Georgia; northwest to Missouri.

Discussion This relative of the Carnation (D. caryophyllus) once grew in fields near Deptford, now an industrial section of London. A closely related species, Maiden Pink (D. deltoides), has larger, solitary, flowers.