DIANTHUS SUPER/BUS. 
SUPERB PINK. 
Order. 
TR1GYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
CARY0P1IYLLE.E. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Cultivated 
Europe. 
2§ feet. 
June, July. 
Perennial . 
in 1596. 
No. 425. 
The Greek words Dios, of Jove; and anthos a 
flower, form a distinguished title for this genus. 
Linneus must have been strongly impressed with 
the beauty of Pinks and Carnations when he adopt- 
ed it ; and, perhaps, no one will venture to assert 
that his preference was undeserved. From the fa- 
miliarity which every one has with these flowers, 
there exists a difficulty of forming a just estimate of 
their rank in floral society. If they bore the frag- 
rance of the fabled groves of the East, and a conden- 
sation of all the beauties of the Garden of Eden, 
they could not perpetually move our admiration. 
Novelty obtains a prior claim. A new plant — a 
fresh and an unthought-of combination of colours 
and vegetable tissue, may well strike our imagina- 
tion. Hence the delights of a garden, delights which 
few, who can fully appreciate, would barter for ben- 
efits far more substantial. 
It may, probably, be asked why this species is 
called superb. Its flowers, it must be admitted, are 
less so than many others of the genus, but it must 
be recollected, that the term is continued from the 
old authors, who compared it with Pinks only, 
107 
Class 
DECANDRIA. 
