CARYOPHYLLEyt 289 



Caryophyllese 



The plants included in this order are mostly herbaceous, 

 and are distinguished by angular or cylindrical and often 

 articulated stems; the leaves are opposite, simple and 

 entire; the inflorescence is definite, i. e. opening first at 

 the apex and last at the base; flowers are solitary, often in 

 fascicles or bundles; the sepals, 4-5 in number, may 

 be either separate or connate; the petals, 4-5, are only 

 attached at the base of a claw of varying length, and the 

 edges may be entire or more or less divided ; the stamens, 

 5-io, are arranged in two whorls. 



Dianthus 



Eng. : Pink ; Tr. : CEillet; Ger. : Nclke. 



There is, perhaps, no genus of alpine plants, upon the 

 cultivation of which opinion is more variable from a 

 comprehensive "exceedingly easy" to Mr. Farrer's sum- 

 mary dismissal: "the Pinks are a difficult race", or his 

 specific outbreak upon T>. sylvestris: "the coralline love- 

 liness of this evil-tempered and most ungrateful of plants". 

 The truth seems to be that, whereas the taller kinds 

 (e. g. superbus), except D. Carthusianorum, often affect 

 dampish and partly shaded spots, the smaller tufted spe- 

 cies come, as a rule, from open, sunny, high pastures 

 which might almost be called arid and baked, yet this 

 preference for dryness is due not to dislike of seasonable 

 moisture but to dislike of heavy, retentive soil. Most 

 will die out in borders and should be wedged among 



