54 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



sten. It was the Whitsun-blooming Gillyflower. The 

 Pink does, in fact, bloom much earlier than the Carna- 

 tion and Picotee, and is generally at its best in June. 

 The early forms were, of course, single. 



The flower was highly esteemed, as we may judge 

 from the expression " the pink of courtesy." Note 

 Romeo and Juliet, Act ii. scene 4. 



Mercutio. Nay, I am the very Pink of courtesy. 

 Romeo. Pink for flower. 

 Mercutio. Right. 



See also Spenser's 



" Her lovely eyes like Pincks but newly spread." 



Pinks are of two classes, the Laced and the Garden 

 or Feathered. The former are probably varieties of 

 Dianthus caryophyllus like our Carnations, and the latter 

 (Pheasants' Eyes) of the feathered Pink (Dianthus 

 plumarius). The Laced Pink has a coloured centre, 

 which distinguishes it from the Carnation and Picotee ; 

 and also a coloured band near the edge of the petal, but 

 not on the margin, as in the Picotee ; there is a band of 

 white on the outside. Like the florists' Carnation and 

 Picotee, it is a smooth-edged flower. The Garden Pinks 

 have cut-edged or serrated petals. 



The multiplicity of names may be taken as evidence 

 of the popularity of the Carnation. Cultured and 

 illiterate people alike loved and grew it. 



The clove-scented Carnation is a very old plant cer- 

 tainly one of the oldest of which botanical historians 

 have any record. The old Roman writer Pliny describes 

 it, and tells us that it was discovered in Spain. Plant 

 dictionaries make no attempt to fix the period of its 

 introduction to Great Britain, and boldly class it as a 



