560 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
itself well deserving the specific name which 
has been given to it. It is also more delicate 
and more sightly, from its fresh colour ; but as 
its roots penetrate little into the ground, it is 
liable to suffer from drought ; it is therefore 
very necessary to water frequently, or place 
it in a situation which is naturally humid. 
In considering the peculiarities of this 
sorrel, we are led to conclude that it is essen- 
tially hibernal; that is, may be grown in winter. 
In this respect, it is worthy of the particular 
attention of the horticulturist ; for however 
severe the winter may be, sown in the autumn 
it yields a fine green vegetable during all that 
season ; while, should any intense and con- 
tinued frost check its growth, the cultivator 
may at least hope to find in it a culinary re- 
source at the commencement of the spring, 
when other herbs scarcely begin to shoot. It 
furnishes a tender and agreeable dish. It is 
beyond a doubt but that it may be successfully 
crossed with the common sorrel ; the result of 
which, in all likelihood, would be the obtain- 
ing of varieties partaking of the qualities of 
both sorts, even more tender and earlier than 
the common, and less sensible of heat than the 
Oseille des neiges. — Gltent Annates. 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
DIANTHUS DELTOIDES. 
Dianthus deltoides, Linnaeus (Maiden Pink). 
• — Caryophyllacese § Sileneas. 
The subject of these remarks possesses 
much more beauty than our drawing gives 
evidence of. It is, in truth, a very pretty 
subject for rock-work, and is one of those 
smaller species, that, being thus brought up 
nearer the eye, are the more readily seen and 
admired. 
Our plant is somewhat rare in a wild state. 
It is found, however, in various parts of Eng- 
land and Scotland, growing in the borders of 
fields and on dry banks, especially in a sandy 
or gravelly soil. It should be planted in mode- 
rately thick tufts, on account of its small size, 
for if this is not done, the small blossoms appear 
at a disadvantage. The Maiden pink is a fa- 
vourite, not only with the garden lover, but 
also with poets. Thus Prior : — 
" The pride of every grove I chose, 
The violet sweet and lily fair, 
The dimpled pink, and blushing rose, 
To deck my charming Chloe's hair." 
In the garden, however, the place for the 
Maiden pink is on a bank of rock-work. The 
flowers are produced during the months of 
July and August. 
The Maiden pink is a perennial. Its root is 
branched, and somewhat woody ; its stems are 
numerous, tufted, decumbent at the base, and 
spreading around, alternately branched, the 
flowering ones erect, much branched, cylin- 
drical, slender, usually from six to ten inches 
high. The leaves are opposite, united at the 
base, covered with fine pubescence and very 
freely serrated on the margin ; the upper ones 
are narrowly linear-lanceolate, ending in an 
acute point ; the lower ones are both shorter 
and broader, and terminate in an obtuse point. 
The flowers appear singly at the tips of the 
little branchlets, and are rose-coloured, paler 
or deeper in different plants, marked with a 
ring of purplish coloured dots round the 
mouth of the tube-like portion formed by 
the straight and approximating claws of the 
petals ; the calyx is smooth, with lanceolate 
erect teeth, and furnished, at the base, with 
two, or sometimes four, ovate scales, which 
have a short acuminated point, a membranous 
margin, and are about half as long as the tube 
of the calyx. The petals are five in number, 
obovate, smooth, unequally jagged on the 
margin, and tapering at the base into a nar- 
row claw. When in perfection, they have a 
very pretty appearance. 
This species bears seed freely, from which 
the best plants are obtained. The seeds may 
be sown in a nursery bed about June, and the 
young plants transplanted in August, into 
other beds, in which they may remain until 
the following spring, when they should be 
removed to their final or flowering positions ; 
they produce their blossoms in the course of 
the summer, after sowing. For their culture, 
any dry stony or sandy soil is suitable ; in 
fact, they do better on poor light ground than 
