104 



THE PINK FAMILY. 



than in most Pinks, 1 to 2 or even 3 

 inches long, obtuse, or the upper ones 

 pointed. Flowers small and scentless, 

 in terminal clusters. Calyx 8 or 9 lines 

 long, the teeth fine and pointed, the 

 outer scales broad at the base, but 

 tapering into fine green points, often 

 projecting beyond the calyx. Petals 

 narrow, pink, with white dots, crenate 

 on the edge. 



On pastures, in waste places, under 

 hedges, etc., in central and southern 

 Europe to the Caucasus, and northward 

 to southern Sweden. Not common in 

 Britain, although it has been found in 

 several English and in a few of the 

 southern Scotch counties. Fl. summer. 



3. Maiden Pink. Dianthus deltoides, Linn. (Fig. 128.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 61.) 



A low perennial, forming a loose, dif- 

 fuse, leafy tuft, not of many years' du- 

 ration ; the flowering stems ascending, 

 glabrous, or slightly hoary, 6 inches 

 to near a foot long, usually forked above 

 the middle. Leaves seldom half an 

 inch long, green and glabrous, obtuse, 

 or the upper ones scarcely pointed. 

 Flowers not large, scentless, pink or 

 spotted with white, solitary or two to- 

 gether, on sliort peduncles. Calyx 6 or 

 7 lines long, with pointed teeth, the 

 outer scales broad, with a narrow point 

 reaching to a third or near half of the 

 length of the calyx. 

 On banks, open pastures, etc., in Europe and western Asia, pene- 

 trating further north into Scandinavia than the two last. More gene- 

 rally distributed over Britain, and abundant in some localities, .but 

 wanting in many counties, and only recorded in a very few stations in 

 Ireland. Fl. all summer. It varies with 2 or 4 scales to the calyx, and 

 has sometimes white flowers. 



