CHAP. VIII.J 
THE PINK. 
269 
keep the petals in their proper place. Each 
flower is also furnished with a paper or tin 
cap to shade it from the sun, and a stake to 
tie it to, in order to keep the stalk erect. 
Clove-carnations bear the same relation to 
florists’ carnations, as unbroken tulips, or 
self-coloured auriculas do to the finer flowers. 
The tree-carnation is a half-shrubby variety 
of the same species, and the mule pink is a 
hybrid between the carnation (Dianthus 
caryophyllus) and the sweet-william (Dian¬ 
thus barbatus.) All these may be treated 
as common perennial border flowers. 
The Pink .—It is remarkable that though 
the pink is a commoner and hardier flower 
than the carnation, it is not known in a wild 
state, and it does not appear to have been 
much cultivated till the latter half of the 
last century, though it is said to have been 
introduced in 1629. Its origin is indeed 
very uncertain; &>me botanists considering it 
as a variety of the carnation, and others 
making it a distinct species, under the name 
of Dianthus plumarius. There are now 
many named sorts, and the best laced pinks 
rank as florists’ flowers; their culture being 
