4 CARNATIONS AND PINKS 



one at large in particular, considering how infinite 

 they are." 



The name Dianthus was given to the genus by 

 Linnaeus, apparently adapting it from Dios anthos, 

 meaning "Jove's flower," recommended by Pliny for 

 coronal purposes. It would appear to have been 

 the species of Agrostemma which Linnaeus named 

 Coronaria. It has been grown in England since 1596. 

 In France, however, the name was applied in the 

 sixteenth century to the Pasque-flower, or Anemone 

 Pulsatilla, now known as " Coquelourde." 



The Carnation was the first plant upon which 

 hybridisation was practically performed. Richard 

 Bradley in his " New Improvements of Planting and 

 Gardening, both Philosophical and Practical" (1717), 

 says : "The Carnation and Sweet William are in some 

 respects alike : the farina of one will impregnate the 

 other, and the seed so enlivened will produce a plant 

 differing from either, as may be now seen in the 

 garden of Mr. Thomas Fairchild, resembling both 

 equally, which was raised from the seed of a Carna- 

 tion that had been impregnated by the farina of 

 the Sweet William." Bradley, who was Professor 

 of Botany in the University of Cambridge, does not 

 appear to have entertained the idea of natural hybrids, 

 but in his work, "Ten Practical Discourses con- 

 cerning Earth and Water, Fire and Air, as they relate 

 to the Growth of Plants," 1727, he writes upon the 

 saving of seed. " If we save it from such Plants 

 as stood among a good collection, we may expect 

 variety enough from it, according to the system of 



